Brigada Angely
by knirbenrots
Summary: Going deep undercover without the backup of his team, Callen has to escape from his alias with or without the support of someone who seems to hate him. G. Callen/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**disclaimer: We all know that no fanfiction writer owns any characters.**_  
_**I am very gratefull to be able to 'use' G. Callen and some of his team members in this story.**_

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In a city with a high population density like the 'City of Angels' it was not always noted if a new casino or escort service popped up.  
It took a while for intelligent analysts to relate money laundering and narcotic activities to a Russian gang that owned casino's and escort services. The 'Brigada Vayavich' as they called themselves, had grown quickly and was responsible for some cruel assassinations of their rivals or individual enemies at broad daylight.  
Wanting to be the only Brigada in control in the western part of the United States and to be in charge of all the narcotics traffic as well, they tied to one of the largest Colombian drug cartels. Kidnapping, robbery and arms deals worsened recently. Arms deals seemed to be made from Camp Pendleton, but there had been some transport robberies too in which arms were taken.  
Rumors were going that the Brigada was looking for more Russian citizens to join them.

It was one of the rare occasions that several nationwide agencies decided to work together on one case: stopping this Brigada.  
The NCIS was the agency to concentrate on the part of the arms deals. There was however one special request for one of the team members of the NCIS Office of Special Projects in Los Angeles.  
Borya Gorjajev was supposed to be one of the recruits for the Brigada Vayavich.

Special Agent G Callen would disappear and become Borya Gorjajev. He would be on his own, again. The only one who was confident about it, was G Callen himself.  
Although she would not express it in the same words as his partner Sam did, Callen noted Hetty was reluctant to agree with the decision that the director already made.

It bothered Sam that he would never be there to have his partners back, he would be working with Deeks and Kensi and focus on what went on in Camp Pendleton.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The start of Callen's individual operation went smoothly.

Hetty arranged an apartment for him which got properly bugged by Eric. Meanwhile Nell made sure Borya's identity would not get compromised: he just moved out from Chicago where he used to work as a bouncer, currently unemployed and looking for a job in Los Angeles.  
The only way to contact his co-workers would be by calling his 'nephew Eric' who came over from Russia to study in Chicago. Telephone calls would have to be in Russian and go to a pay phone and could never be traced to the office. Of course, it would be Hetty to answer the phone.  
As for the rest of it, Callen would use a button cam so the ops workers would be able to get as much information as possible and would able to trace their team leader as well.

First thing that was necessary was to be introduced in one way or another to the vor, the leaders of this group. The only way he knew was asking the only Russian he trusted, Arkady Kolcheck.

"Although I know you are one of the best trained agents I ever saw, still, never underestimate this gang Callen," Arkady said, worried as he was about the Brigada that seemed to take over all the other organized crime in town.

Callen decided to ignore the words of the older man. "Did they ask you to join?"

"There was my definite 'no'. And perhaps there is a sign on my front door nowadays saying mister Kolcheck moved out. It is getting too dangerous living in this town for me and I am thinking of moving indeed".

With a slight smirk Callen asked "Any time left for you and me to visit a casino Arkady?"

"Borya, you and I will have a good night out with lots of wodka. But not without my friends here" as he nodded towards his bodyguards.  
Callen understood that Arkady was seriously intimidated by the way his country members behaved in this city.

During the casino visit there were no direct contacts, neither did Callen notice he or Arkady were being observed.

It took some days until he noticed he was being tailed when he drove from one employment agency to another. All against his nature, this time he knew he had to allow the persons to find him and his temporary address. And so they did.

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Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**_After the first short introduction of this story, you might be curious to know what'll happen next._**  
**_Well, hello, there's the team again that I gladly borrow for a while. Thank you, mr Shane Brennan & CBS!_**

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He knew they were somewhere around his place. Still, Callen could do nothing but wait until they really contacted him.  
Callen was out on the move for the third night in a row, knowing at night there would be at least one of his team members around to have his back. This time it was Deeks who kept an eye on him, also having a good time with two girls at the opposite side of the bar. Although he never felt like he could not handle things on his own, it made him feel better not to be all alone.  
Callen sent a quick glance at his co-worker to let him know that something was going on; he saw the same four men coming in as he'd seen the night before, in another bar. This time they joined him at the table.

"Borya Gorjajev?" one of the men asked.

"Who wants to know" he responded, with an accent that would probably be taken for a Caucasian. All the time he was not making eye contact with one of his uninvited table guests, sipping his beer.

"Dmitri Vayavich" was the two word answer of the same man.

Callen looked up. "Well, Dmitri, you are right. My name is Borya Gorjajev".  
The three other man started laughing as if on command. "Alec, the man is making fun of you", one of them said.

The man who addressed him first, Alec, studied the reaction of Callen. "Borya, Dmitri is the vor. He is looking for new personnel. Rumor goes you are looking for a job. Dmitri wants you to come by tomorrow to discuss what you can do for him". He took a card from his jacket and wrote on it.  
"Time and location. Make sure you'll be there," was all he said. He nodded to the other men who got up and left altogether.

Of course, Callen had known Dmitri was the one who was in charge of the Brigada Vayavich. He was surprised they found him in here and that it only took some days for him to be able to meet the big boss himself so soon.

He got up and went to the gents, knowing that Deeks would follow soon. Once his co-worker was around, Callen started talking, having taps running so that his words would not be heard in case anyone would be overhearing.  
"Tell Hetty I'm going to meet the big boss, tomorrow. It will be at LAX, a meeting room at Tom Bradley LAX, 3.15 PM. Eric already has pictures of the guys who joined this night. One of them is called Alec, guess he's higher up in the system. I'm in Deeks. Ready for what's to come, which means I won't be meeting you from now on", he said.

"Check in as often as you can. If you don't, I don't know how to handle the big guy. He's on the brink already that you'll be on your own and he doesn't know for how long that'll be", Deeks smiled.

Deeks noticed the lead agent already was switching his real identity to the fake one.  
G Callen would disappear soon and Marty Deeks did not know if he could ever live the life that Borya Gorjajev lived. He certainly hoped Callen could do it.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Five weeks later

Sam was edgy indeed right now. It had been weeks since he'd spoken with his partner. Hetty briefed him and the team after the weekly calls from Callen to his 'nephew Eric'.

Although they all knew Callen was alright, it was strange to work without him. There was the ongoing case of the Brigada - always there - but other cases came by too. Some of them were rather easy to solve, while with other crimes it took days to wrap.  
All this time, Sam was the team leader and assistant director Granger had assigned a young agent to their team to assist them.  
It was driving Sam Hanna nuts. There were worries about how and if Callen would manage to keep his backstory up, plus he missed the senseless bantering with his partner. The team relied on Sam's judgments and now, in his opinion, he had to babysit as well. He felt lucky Jesper Barcuk was green, but a sharp young agent too.

Then came this Saturday morning when Sam, Michelle and the kids were doing some grocery shopping and little Greg shouted out happily.  
"Uncle Callen! There's uncle Callen!"

Looking in the direction Greg pointed, Sam saw two men who did some shopping too. He recognized the one his partner was talking to, the same one who addressed him in the bar, weeks ago.  
There was no sign whatsoever that Callen recognized the boy or the parents, something which made him a great undercover agent indeed  
Sam said "No, no Greg. It's just a man who looks like uncle Callen." One look in his wife's eyes was enough for Michelle to lure the boy and his younger sister to another part of the shopping mall to find a present for when uncle Callen, the real one, might show up again.

Sam had no doubts that Callen must have followed him to this place with a reason. He stayed close to both men so he could overhear their discussion.

"Alec, it's great that Dmitri invited all of us for diner now he's back in LA. Is it true he has a house that will host us all for the rest of the weekend?"

"Da, Borya. There is always lots of nice girls and vodka. There is party time".

"Do you think I should buy some tootsie pops for the others? I love some sweets when I'm on my way. Three bags will do, one for each van, right?"

"Three vans, yes. But will everybody like the American sweets? I do not know, Borya. Maybe".

"Well, they will tell me if they do not like it. I will gladly take all of them myself".

With just this little bit of shopping, both men went to the pay desk and walked out of the shop without looking back.  
Sam knew it was his partner's way to give some information before action was about to happen and he knew too that it was the only way for Callen to contact them.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Although it was a Saturday, Hetty had them all back at the office to try and find clues and information on where and how the Brigada would hit. The intel they had was shared with the other agencies.  
It was clear that there would have to be three vans, probably parked near a large mansion. Perhaps there were call girls invited to the same property, and food to be delivered.  
The analysts of DEA, NCIS and FBI focused on these information.

Meanwhile, Sam and his temporary partner Jesper were on a stake out near Camp Pendleton to see if there were suspicious vans checking in or out. They had been around a lot, not sure if the officer they thought who was contacting smaller Russion cells, was to be taken for interrogation or not.  
Although it was a hot day, the challenger was parked in the shadow of a tree.  
Ever since the first day Jesper worked with Sam, he was disgusted by the many sweets in Sam's car. Instead, Jesper ate apples. Many apples.

"Get that core out of the car Jesper."

"Will do so later on, Sam. Have to watch who's in the car that's coming in from behind" his young partner said, still chewing.

"Gimme the camera. Get – the – core – out – of – MY – car - NOW. Do you know I found three rotting cores underneath your seat? Filthy rotting stinking cores Jesper. In my car".

"Uh. Thought it was a government car" the young agent said, looking innocent with a slight smirk.

"Yeah. Keep it up Jesper. Camera in here. You: cores out or else you're out as well." Sam grinned. Not at all like G, the boy was as green as could be, but it was better than being alone.

There was a typical Deeks chuckle in their earwig "thought you always want your partner to eat healthy, Sam? You finally found someone to complete that way of living and still I hear you complaining!"  
Deeks and Kensi had tailed a Russian citizen in LA who had visited the same casino Callen and Arkady Kolcheck were in, weeks ago. This person was around several times and maybe, just maybe, it was one of the next visitors of Vayavich.

At the end of the day, nothing had come up on their radar, nor on any other. Nothing at all. Another day without any results. The only thing they knew is that something was about to happen, soon.

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**Please let me know if you liked this chapter. The real action is about to come!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks for your kind reviews! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well. Remember, I don not own any of the characters of CBS. Wished I did! Just using the LA team, again. Never mind...**_

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So far, all preparations were good and all scenarios had been discussed. Chris was glad everything was under control. The weekend had been relaxing, but the week before was a frantic one with planning, consultations and rehearsing. Now, the team in here was ready for the Russian visitors.  
Today, the Russian ambassador would come by for a visit to The Netherlands Consulate, to commemorate the WW II victims. For this bi-annual meeting, there were of course also journalists invited, only this time they would need special accreditation. The press officer had invited a Dutch, a Russian and an American team for both television and for newspapers.

Usually, Chris worked at the embassy in Washington, but for this occasion only a larger team of personnel came over to work in Los Angeles.  
The building at Wilshire Boulevard was brand new and in fact, easy as a base camp to work in. On the ground floor, there was a large reception desk for the whole building, with several waiting areas, whilst the third floor was completely a Dutch property.  
One of the rooms in there was a smaller camera room, from which Chris or one of the other members of the special security staff were able to follow all activities on the ground floor and outside the building.  
Once everybody would be in, Chris would be one of the bodyguards of the consul, not dressed in uniform this time but in a comfortable yet neat looking set of clothes.

An hour before the Ambassador and the press were supposed to arrive, there was one last briefing. After that, Chris took a cup of coffee and headed to the camera room.  
First, footage showed the reception area, where two of the team members assisted the regular secretaries this time, just in case. In another half hour, four uniformed colleagues would be posted in there as well. All was quiet on the ground floor so far.  
On the automatic switch to the outside cameras, three black vans parked on different places near the consulate drew her attention on the screens.

Pointing at the vans on the different screens, Chris asked "Hans, do you know how long those vans have been parked there?"

"Nee, Chris" he said, "It's only now you mention it I notice. Kind of strange indeed, three identical vans".

"This one just arrived" one of the other guys said. "It could be one of the camera crews".

"If there was only one van, I would go for that too. Three of them is odd, although it still might be a coincident" Chris said. "Jacob, could you go out for let's say, doughnuts, and take a peek into the one parked opposite of Starbucks?"

"On it Chris. It's the glaced ones you prefer if I remember?" he smiled at the team leader.

"So right. There should be some time left for a treat for all of us. Be unnoticed and be back quickly" Chris said, slightly worried.  
They let the camera follow their colleague crossing the street, right behind one of the vans. He soon showed up from the Starbucks, this time he stopped right in front of the same van and carefully looked to the left and right before he crossed the busy boulevard to return to the building.

"Well?" Chris asked.

"Dunno. I saw two man on the front seats, perhaps some other behind them. Dark windows, so could not see anything clearly. The ones I did see, were both dressed in black shirts. Although I tried to be unnoticed, it felt as if they were observing me as well. I'd go for suspicious, Chris" he said, chewing a chocolate muffin.

"Jakkes" she reacted. "I should call it in at LAPD anyway. No further actions until you hear from me, but Jacob, you do alert the others on the ground floor. I'll discuss it with the Consul, see what his feelings are. Earphones in, all of you".

Things got in a rush from then on. The American camera team arrived and so did the Dutch journalist of the united press service. A telephone call came in, saying that due to traffic jams caused by a car accident, the Russian ambassador got stuck on his way to the consulate and was not sure to be there in time.  
LAPD reacted soon after their call telling they would contact a special intervention team that should arrive within a quarter of an hour.

Minutes after, Chris saw a group of five men walking in the reception area. Things certainly got out of control. All five wore masks and were armed. From the side entrance, five other persons entered, dressed the same. Four gunshots later, four cameras were ruined. The third floor went blind on what went up down there.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Early this morning there was a well-planned and quick bank robbery. One of the smallest offices of the bank of New England was visited by a nice looking couple who asked to open a save deposit. The very moment one of the employees takes them to a smaller office, the couple takes guns, started shooting at the camera's and asked for a large amount of money. They took not only 2 mil in cash, but also took the staff of three with them as hostages. There is no video footage, we only have eye witness reports. All five left in a dark blue SUV, no number plates known and until now, the car has not been traced".

"Nothing extraordinary on an ordinary LA day I'd say" Deeks remarked after the long explanation of Nell.

"True", the small girl swiftly answered. "The only odd thing LAPD has, and that is why they warned us and the other agencies, is voices. The cameras were demolished, but all offices of the bank have radio transmission tapes with voices as well. Listening to the voices, experts hear a Russian accent in the questions of both the man as the woman. Which does make it special".

"So Nell. You are saying that a bank robbery and hostages taken and a Russian connection brings us… where?" Jesper wanted to know.

"I'm afraid it brings us nowhere Mr. Barcuk," Hetty said. "It will probably be only one of the actions your colleague vaguely mentioned in the supermarket. Now our analysts will be extra alert on two more Russian teams to come into action somewhere in this large town."

"Which leaves us to do what, Hetty?" Sam did not see how there was a way to predict what would happen where and when, at least, not for his team.

The office manager sighed. "Oh, Mr. Hanna, I know you want action and answers right now which nobody can give you. The thing you can do and you should do is to focus on if any specific transports will be going out of naval Camp Pendleton today. It will be office work which I know you all detest, but it has to be done. Assist our analysts, please".

Grinning his teeth in pure frustration, Sam left the ops room, going back to the bullpen. The others trotted downstairs behind the large man.

"It is nothing you did wrong Jesper. He's just worried about Callen", Kensi said. "Sam thinks he should be around, worried how he should keep his partner out of trouble right now. Ignore it, he gets bad tempered if we like it or not".

The four were all quiet for a while. Then, the phone at Deeks' desk rang. He just listened with an 'uh-huh' every now and then, he finished. Looking at the three others, he said one word. "Up" and he hurried upstairs, meeting Eric on the small platform where he was about to whistle.

"You—you have taken lessons with Hetty, Deeks? How did you know I—? "

"I don't. Eric, it's important. It's the—"

"The Dutch consulate. I know".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

For a while, Chris hesitated. Seven of the team were downstairs now, three left on this floor. Then she quickly took decisions. "Hans, take the Consul to the seventh floor, put him behind a desk at the accountancy and you do the same. Don't move from there until anybody tells you".

"Anja, I will need your badge. I'll take over your work and meet the press, as if nothing happened. You join Hans and the Consul, seventh floor, now."

"André, there should be an instant camera. Yep, that one. Put it on this laptop case and connect it to your screens."

"Chris, you're not going down there, are you?"

Trying to look as confident as usual, the simple answer was a 'yes, I am'.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"The Consulate of the Netherlands" Deeks and Eric both said.

"The Russian Ambassador will visit them this morning" Eric continued.

"LAPD got a request to send a SWAT team. Call came from the Consulate, head of security, because three identical and suspicious vans are parked outside the building."

"Have we got ears and eyes inside the building Mr. Beale?" Hetty wanted to know.

"We have" Eric answered. He looked at Nell who said "11766, Wilshire Boulevard". Nothing appeared on the screen.  
"We should have…" he said. Still, only blackness on the screen. "Outside we have a camera, aiming at the main entrance. I think." Now, something did show, but nothing too clear or too close.

"LAPD perhaps?" Jasper suggested. A call to Deeks' superior was enough to know the team had not arrived yet, but were close. The NCIS-team would be included in the video feeding as soon as possible.

Suddenly, there was camera footage received in Ops. "Eyes" Eric exclaimed, and as he heard somebody talk he said "Ears".

Next thing they all heard, were lots of gunshots.

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_**Thanks for reading! Of course, your reviews are welcome. **_

_**Richtsje**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Wouldn't you just want to be one who'd own some of the characters of your favorite show? I would, but of course, I can't. They'll always belong to CBS. I'll just chose to be the OC, and share who-ever I want. Just for the sake of the story._

* * *

Chris took a deep breath before she really had the nerve to enter the reception area.

There were lots of people screaming, probably guests and people working in there. One thing was for sure, her team would be outnumbered by the invaders, shooting or fighting would be useless and dangerous. Besides that it was not clear what the masked and armed group wanted.

Chris opened the door from the staircase. Before she had a chance to close it, somebody else did it for her.  
"Lock the door Evgeny. And bring the woman here" she heard. The man closest to her did what he was ordered to do. With one hand he took her shoulder and she shied as he put a gun against her neck.

"Put the case on the desk Lady", the man behind her said. That was exactly what Chris did and at the same moment she switched to the record position of the camera.  
The man they called Evgeny led her to two of the others, probably those in charge, who stood closer to the entrance doors. "Who have we got here? 'Miss Anja Smid. Press Officer'. Good. You can ask your colleagues for the Consul of the Netherlands, the Russian Ambassador and Chris Young to come in here" he ordered.

She tried to hide her feelings but couldn't help some of her fear would show on her face. She looked down when she saw two steel blue eyes observing her carefully. Chris swallowed twice and then she answered. "I cannot get them in here" she said. "That is what I was going to tell the journalists. They are all stuck in this traffic jam. The Ambassador will be here first. Mister Young will be arriving with our Consul."  
She took good notice how they would react on the 'Mister Young'-thing but before they said anything, shots from outside of the building were aimed at the intruders. The cavalry had arrived, but would it be enough?

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Borya, Callen, knew the woman lied when she answered Alec's question. At the same time the shock he saw in her blue eyes when Alec asked her to get the three people down here, seemed to be real.  
Just as he was wondering why somebody had the guts to lie even when being threatened by a gun, the shooting started.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

When Eric finally had video footage on the big screen, they heard the woman on screen saying something about a traffic jam and that the Consul and Mister Young were to arrive in the building soon.

"Miss Jones, find out about that and stop them from coming closer to the Consulate" Hetty instructed.

The only camera that functioned showed exactly what went on. With the first shots, at least three of the masked persons went down. There were screaming people inside the building, there was glass everywhere, panic on the street outside.  
"Everybody down!" someone inside the building shouted. An automatic gun was being shot inside the building, above everybody's heads, forcing them to get out of reach of the shooters.

"It's G! His voice, his posture, it is G. Damn, he's in serious shit" Sam exclaimed.

The shooting stopped for a while, but then continued, obviously hitting one or two invaders again.

"Five down, five to go" Deeks counted, nearly excited.

"But what if they kill Callen" Kensi softly said. "They don't know one of us is in there and we're to late to stop them".

Then there was some Russian shouting, which did not come through very clearly. "I think they said they want a group in the busses in 8 minutes from now" Jesper said.  
His older team members looked at him.  
"Great, Jesper, you understand Russian!" Kensi said. Jesper blushed, not used to be complimented and certainly not by a good looking woman.

They watched as four of the captivators forced at least fifteen people that were on the ground floor to go through the doors behind the reception desks.

"Mr. Beale, find a floor map of the building. Where are they going to? It won't fit in the vans. And why the hell isn't Mr. Callen joining them. What's the plan?" Hetty asked, perhaps merely herself.

From the ops, they watched in disgust as they saw what happened next. Three of the uniformed security personnel of the consulate and the woman they just talked to, were forced to lay down. Before he could be stopped, the man shot the first two guards without hesitation. "Borya, show the city who we are".

Holding their breaths, at the ops room they got quiet as they saw Callen, their team leader, the one who always stood for justice, put a gun at the woman's head.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

No way was he going to do this. Callen felt nauseous by the cold blooded killing that he witnessed. He knew he could never do that and he had to find one of quickest ways out of it. The small camera Alec wore, taped on the holster, sent live footage to Dmitri. If Callen should stop Alec by shooting him, Dmitri would know. He chose for the next best thing to do.

"Alec, they are our tickets out of here. Los Angeles knows the Brigada by now" he said. He rudely dragged the woman and used her as a shield, heading for the staircase that would lead them into the parking beneath this building where all vans they really needed, had been parked. To his surprise, Alec took one of the other men and followed.  
Things had gone very different from the plans that they rehearsed during the last hours. Callen was around when they had planned taking hostages. The ones they were after weren't there, which was a mishap of their contact.  
Callen certainly had not planned being shot, however, he was. His left upper arm had been pierced by a bullet, he felt it bleeding and the pain kept lashing through it with every heartbeat. The sharp pain prevented him from using his arm right now, still, he held it around the woman's neck, keeping his gun pointed at her head.

"The grey Mercedes, Borya" he heard Alec say. Get in the backseats, we'll take the front".

It was not until the Mercedes was driving further from Wilshire Boulevard, Callen sat back and wished the bleeding stopped.

"I hope it hurts bad, rotzak".

Callen looked up. Until now, he had not really paid attention to her, preoccupied as he was about getting away. Now, he noticed she looked at him, disgusted, her angry and hurt dark blue eyes as she had spat out the words. Her once crisp white blouse was now all wrinkled and there was blood on it – his blood, he realized. Her dark blonde hair was only partly left in a braid, long curls had peeked out of it.

Since he did not react, she repeated "Я надеюсь, что это больно, rotzak".

Without answering her, he was surprised she reacted like that. Scared would have been more predictable. He needed to react as Borya.  
"Shut up, сука" he said.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"There is a large parking underneath the building" Nell showed a blueprint of the building. "So, at least six cars or five vans should have left it in the meantime. Where did they all go, Eric?"

Eric was hitting all kind of buttons on his keyboard, not saying anyting.

"Eric? It's such a simple question. Where are they now?" Kensi asked, worried as she was

The tech started frantically hitting all kind of function buttons on his laptop and immediately after on his tablet. Then, he swallowed "Ehrm. Well, I don't know…"

"Mr. Beale! What do you mean, you don't know? The question is simple—"

Fearing the fury of the small yet strong little boss, Eric intervened "I don't know because I can't see. It seems like all traffic cams are going forwards-backwards. We're being played with Hetty. We're blind."

In a small voice, Nell added to the chaotic uncertainty "The consul of The Netherlands has been in the building all the time. And there is nobody called Mister Chris Young at the staff."

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_Thanks for reading. Would love to read your review - yes, yours! - too._


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for reading & reviewing!**

* * *

"Sht… Niet doen. Just stop making them angry". Only now Chris noticed it was Joost, one of her Washington team who was forced to drive the car.

"Wat denk jij dan dat ik ben. Natuurlijk ben ik kwaad. Je zag toch wat die hufter deed?" [How do you think I feel? Of course I'm angry. Sure you also saw what the bastard did?]

Although Callen heard she was talking angrily in Dutch, he could not really understand what she was saying. It was one of the languages he recognized but did not understand or speak.  
"Stop talking like that, lady. Just stop talking". He felt suddenly tired. Tired of not controlling the situation, tired of not knowing where they were driving to, or why. He probably had lost more blood than he thought too, being so much weaker and dizzier than before. Although he hated hospitals, for now it might be better to go there. "Alec, I think I'm going to need some stitches. Any chance we might see an emergency room?"

"No way Borya, unless you want to be arrested. Joost, do you know how to treat gun wounds?" Alec asked the driver in a familiar tone.

It sounded far too friendly, their talking. For a while, Chris was quiet. "Joost?" Suddenly there was the feeling of being betrayed and it made her feel sick.

Her colleague watched her in the rear view mirror. "Ja, Chris. They pay much better than our government does". And he continued: "Oh and Alec, all went like we planned. Your man was not going to shoot, that was obvious enough. Please, meet Chris Young. She knows a lot of first aid, I know."

"That's not my first care, Joost. Our job was only to get her to Dmitri Vayavic" Alec said.

Although Callen felt weak himself, he did see all the emotions on her face when she heard that name. Her eyes grew in disbelief and immediately after that all color seemed to leave her face. She winced and her soft whispered 'no' was only heard by him. The anger had gone and made place for fear.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It took about ten minutes, ten minutes only. After that, all of a sudden all traffic camera's worked perfectly again. But of course, no traces were left for any police force or agency in town. There were helicopters flying above the city, but no suspicious vans or cars were found.

Sam, Kensi and Deeks were not the only ones that were sent to the location. It was hardly possible to find a place to park their car. It was a disorganized rush of police cars, ambulances, several coroner vans and cars they assumed belonged to one of the other agencies. Some uniformed agents and officers were talking to people on the street, probably eye witnesses. After showing their badges, the three of them were allowed to enter the building.  
In there it was chaotic as well. There were several dead bodies, there were officers looking for evidence. Looking around, Deeks saw one of his LAPD colleagues.

"Hey, Evan. Messy and nasty thing man".

"Deeks. How are you related to this case?"

"Like all agencies I guess. Alerted by the Russian connection".

"Well, be happy that all the Russians in here are dead".

"We'll probably start searching for the others Evan. Who's in charge in here? We'ld like to talk to one of the security staff of the consulate."

The LAPD officer nodded to a none-uniformed officer, talking to two men and a woman. "Smith in there, he's with Homeland Security."  
"Sorry to interrupt you, NCIS in here" Sam introduced themselves. "We'd like to talk to the head of security".

Smith introduced himself and explained he was talking with the Consul, Miss Anja Smid and one of the security staff, Harm de Boer.  
"Could we have a word with you, Mister de Boer?" Sam wanted to know.

"Sure.  
"Anja Smid? We heard the Russians talking to Anja Smid, but it wasn't her" Kensi said.

"She needed to have a reason to go down. Getting a camera back into action, trying to communicate with the other team members, things a team leader should do", the man said. "Anja was to meet the press, so it was logical that she was there and she took Anja's badge. She was not afraid, there would be no stopping her. And now she's been taken hostage?"

Sam nodded. "We don't have her name yet, who is she?"

"Chris, Chris Young".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"We've got more intel now, Kensi", Nell said. Kensi had just contacted the NCIS OSP, asking for more information about the woman and another of her team, Joost Niesing, who left at the same time as the woman, Callen and Alec.  
"Her name is Christianne Young, daughter of an American father and a Dutch mother, Dutch nationality, currently working at The Dutch Embassy in Washington as one of the assistants of the Defense Department, responsible for security."  
Nell continued. "Before this, she had nearly the same jobs in Brazil, France and—in Moscow. Though in Moscow she was a liaison for the Dutch intelligence services".  
Scrolling through some more and older files, she quickly read. "Chris, as she's been called, was the team leader of a crisis intervention team in Moscow that managed to save ten hostages, all tourists, from a hotel. The group were taken hostage by a group posting as Chechen terrorists, but in fact were Russian. Two of the terrorists were taken into custody, three were killed. And guess what—Dmitri Vayavich was behind it and was arrested. His former fiancée died."

They heard Jesper, who had stayed with Eric and Nell, concluding "And Chris might have been the one to blame. Of course. That is why they asked for Chris Young".

There was a pause. Then they heard Hetty. "I want you back at ops, all three. There is no use staying in there, let HS do their job in the consulate. I want you to be regrouping, rethinking and replanning."

Without Callen, it seemed to be less organized. He had a way of a jumping into quick and rarely wrong conclusions and making things seemingly so easy to handle and take care of. They missed that, sometimes asking themselves too many questions without analyzing and planning.  
Now, Kensi stated "Dmitri knew she would be around. How could he know? Can we figure out HOW he knew?"

"What do you think, is it true that Callen's team did not know that Chris Young, would be a woman instead of a man?" Sam said. "And what will happen next? It will be just be a matter of time when Dmitri meets Callen and Alec and then he sees Anja is in fact Chris?"

"Hell will break loose for the girl. Russian roulette it will be indeed" Deeks said, one of his most lousy tries to humor away worries.

Behind him, the petite office manager cleared her throat. "Let us hope that will not happen Mr. Deeks. Mr. Callen should get her out of there. So, what is our plan Mr. Hanna?"

Sam looked at Hetty, nearly in despair. "None that I can think of right now, Hetty. We don't know where they are, traffic cams were out of action and Dmitri still is out of sight".

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**_Thanks for reading. Please do review! _**


	6. Chapter 6

Finally, the car stopped. Chris had not paid any attention to where they were going to and even if she had, she would not have known since she had visited the city only once before.  
Despite the feverish feeling that had come over Callen, he was surprised to find himself so near to the boatshed but not able to reach it, especially not like he felt right now.

"Joost, will you help Borya? It's the third yacht from the right you need, the 'Angely' is ours for now" Alec said. He then opened the door from the other side. "You're going to behave just nicely, lady". He put another black jacket over her shoulder, pointed his gun underneath it to her back and thus forced Chris to walk with him to the yacht as well.

She was afraid to meet Dmitri in there, at that yacht. The 'Angely'. She hated the name already.

Seven years ago Dmitri Vayavich was running several terrorist cells in Russia and had taken a group of tourists as hostages in a hotel. At that time Chris worked at the embassy, liaised by the intelligence services and although somebody of the French Embassy had been the one to negotiate, she had been the one in charge of an intervention team. Negotiations did not work out the way they expected and in order to save the hostages, action was necessary. Chris had been able to prevent a beautiful looking young woman to blast away parts of a hotel. The only way to stop her was by shooting her. Immediately after, she was the one to arrest Dmitri herself.

She had imagined he would still be locked up, somewhere far away from here, in his own country. The last thing she had expected or wanted to hear was that he was in this country, in this town, knowing she was too, and that these three men were about to take her to Dmitri.

Chris needed time, time to think how to find a way out.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Eric, is there still no face recognition on the Alec-guy?" Sam wanted to know. If they would arrest that man, he would be put away for killing at the least. Pictures of Alec shooting two man had been broadcasted all over the US in the mean time. The only camera in the building that functioned right, had caught the footage. Callen stayed out of reach of the camera, luckily.

"Nothing on our systems, nor on the European," the tech said and he quickly added "Yet. Something might pop up sooner or later. By the way, Nell just asked for the list of all people that were taken hostage. It will arrive later today".

"That Russian guy, Callen's friend, would he know more?" Deeks asked.

"There… That is the best I have heard today, Mr. Deeks. I suggest that you, Mr. Hanna, and you, Mr. Barcuk, yes, you, young man, will visit Arkady Kolcheck. Ask him where to find most Russians on a weekday's night," Hetty said.

"Hetty? I found hardly any information about the other person that left with Callen and the others. It is a member of the security staff as well."

"Hardly any information or no information at all?" Hetty raised her eyebrows, a sign that Eric and Nell were supposed to keep digging into the databases of the embassy's personnel.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

So far, Chris Young felt relieved. Dmitri was not there, only the four of them were on the yacht right now.

"You will see to it that Borya's wound will be taken care of," the Russian guy, Alec, said.

"Что если у меня нет? [What if I don't]" Chris wanted to know.  
She decided to ignore her team member, who betrayed her and his other colleagues. Joost probably had been helping the invaders all the time, that is why they knew where the cameras would be, who would be in the building… and that she would be there.

"Don't let her fool you Alec. Chris may look innocent but she is tougher than you think," Joost said.

"Hou je stil, ik zei niks tegen jou" [Keep quiet, I was not talking to you], she said. Chris knew she was making him angry. She knew that when it would come to a man-to-man fight, she'd beat him. Maybe it would come that far. But first of all, she needed a weapon.

"заткнись" [shut up] Alec shouted. "Go and look at Borya's wound now!"

"I won't do that" she stubbornly said.

"Da, you will. Because if you don't, one of the hostages will die. All up to you, сука."

Chris swallowed. She guessed it would not be a false threat. If necessary, she could kill this man, Borya, but not now. She looked at the man who leaned back on one of the seats, pale and his eyes closed.

"Very well. I'll need hot, boiled water, vodka, at least two clean towels and a wash cloth and a first aid kit. And a sharp knife" she said.

"Een mes?" Joost asked. "No way Alec that you give her a knife". Both men did not move at all.

"No help? Fine by me" she said.  
Then, she took Borya's shirt, until now sticking to his open wounds, and tore it away without a warning. The pain caused by this action was intense and Callen could not help but to scream. He gasped immediately after, his ocean blue eyes darker now because of the pain, looking up in anger at her. "Stop. Don't" he said, taking a deep breath before he spoke again. "Stay away from me."

"We'll have you lay down now, Borya. She will have to look at your arm" Alec said. And to her "Clean sheets and towels in that cupboard. Put them on the bed and stay there".

"He'll need the vodka first, to get him drunk and numbed. A very sharp and knife would be needed if I need to get a bullet out."

"I can handle it soberly" Callen mumbled, though getting immediately nauseous on what she had said. He hated hospitals but for now, he wished he could be in there. Any sedation would do.  
Stumbling down the small ladder he found himself in a small bedroom, a two bedded one, ending up in the V on the front of the yacht. He was glad to be able to lay down and close his eyes.  
Sounding as from a distance he did notice some coming in and leaving of the others. Then, there was her voice.

"Hey, мистер Borya, are you ready for what's to come?"

He had to look up. The same dark blue eyes that had been looking so afraid late that morning, were now calm and confidently looking in his bright blue ones.  
Callen nodded.

"Now I **AM** going to hurt you" Chris told him.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Agent Hanna. And?" Kolcheck curiously looked at the young agent that accompanied Sam right now.

"Jesper Barcuk, sir" he introduced himself.

Arkady Kolcheck now suddenly looked worried. "No bad news about Callen, is there?"

"No. No news at all. That should not be worrying us," Sam said. "Did you follow today's developments?" he asked Arkady.

Although Sam did have some trusting issues on Arkady, and maybe it was the other way around as well, this time he saw the serious side of the Russian former KGB-agent.  
"All the news was hard to miss, agent Hanna. I am not proud to be Russian at this moment; that is for sure. The hostage taking is a typical thing of the Brigada. Dmitri Vayavich continues in Los Angeles what was stopped in Moscow, years ago. I warned Callen about him, not to underestimate the man himself, nor the Brigada members, all as fanatic as Vayavich himself."  
He was quiet for some seconds before he continued. "But I don't think you came in here to hear that".

Sam shook his head "No, Arkady. Although we want to have Callen back with us, we need to find the Brigada's hostages first. We think we might stand a chance when we find out where lots of Russian young people come together. Callen will keep working from the inside of the Brigada".

"Oh, but I can see you worry about your partner. It is in your eyes, agent Hanna. The Callen I know is the one who will not give up until he succeeds, not until justice is done. I hope he will succeed, this time. Getting out of there will be less easy than getting in…"

* * *

A/N Maybe Arkady will have more to share...

_Thanks for reading. It's your reviews that'll keep me going, so let them come ;-)_


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for your comments!  
You all know that only for the purpose of these stories, all characters in this story belong to CBS. All, except the ones you'll never meet on screen.

* * *

-7-

"Getting out of there will be less easy than getting in? What does that mean?" Sam wanted to hear from Arkady.

"Well, Dmitry Vayavic trusts not many people. He is the boss, the Vor. There's always a group of five men around him, the elite group. Make the slightest mistake and you are 'doneski' as you put it. Word goes that Callen is one of the rising stars in the Brigada, straight forward to the elite group, which does not surprise me at all. But at the same time, his buddy Alec Andronov made some mistakes in the Dutch Consulate".

"And you think Dmitri does not let him leave the Brigada voluntarily?"

"Who, Andronov? No way. He won't even be able to leave alive. Now about Callen—"

Sam interrupted "Jesper, call Nell and tell her to start looking on Alec Andronov."  
"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Kolcheck. We did not have a last name and have no information yet on the man. A full crime report before his arrest could come in handy".

Arkady looked at Sam in disbelief. "You don't really expect to arrest the man, do you? Useless to try. You should focus to get your partner out of there. And I don't think the schoolboy you take with you today is prepared for what you might run in to. Tell your boss I told her."

"Я слышал, что вы сказали" [I heard what you said]. Jesper had entered the room, looking mad at the older Russian man. Sam did not understand what he said, but could see his young partner felt offended. "Может быть, я неопытная, но я действительно говорить на вашем языке" [Maybe I am inexperienced but I do speak your language].

Kolcheck looked at the young man who temporarily joined the senior agent and suddenly started laughing.

"Da, speaking Russian is a skill we might use these days, son. And I might underestimate your skills. I think you and I should plan a visit to a great night club this Thursday night", he said. "A place where lots of Russians will be. Unfortunately it's closed until then".

"That's three nights from now, Arkady", Sam said. "Do you think Callen still will be save enough by then?"

"He's in there for nearly six weeks now Mr Hanna, am I right? Another three nights, four days, it should make no difference".

It sounded so reasonable to Sam. Still, he felt miserable. There had been no contact, there were no more weekly calls. His partner was on his own, maybe needing the back up more than ever.  
"Thursday night it is" he finally agreed.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

They all had gone home in the late afternoon, unsatisfied that they still had no real clues except for the name of Alec Antonov ánd the name of the night club, 'Angely'.  
Hetty had agreed that Jesper would join Arkady Kolcheck, but under the strict condition Kensi would join them, posing as Kolcheck's sweetheart for the time being.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

One by one, the agents came in at the NCIS Office of Special Projects. By 8.30 AM, the place was buzzing with people doing the things they had to do.

Their team was complete, it you could call it like that without their team leader. They spent the morning doing lots of time consuming and in their eyes quite boring things to do.  
Kensi and Deeks had started to find out about the backgrounds of any on the list of hostages. It meant making a lot of phone calls, checking paperwork and consulting several other agencies. Sam and Jesper had checked bank accounts and phone records.

Despite the feeling they were not going anywhere with all the information they had gathered, they were all absorbed in the things they did and the sudden loud and new squeal from Eric made them look up in shock.

Eric and Nell had restarted to check the video footage. They worked with a new program that showed it picture by pictures, slower than a slow-motion.

"Guys, you need to see this", Eric rattled.

On the big screen, there was the long and nasty scene they watched again. The two uniformed men that were executed right in front of the cameras. Then, when it came to the third one, there was the definite moment when the man made eye-contact with the Russian Alec.

"They both knew this moment was coming. They must have known each other before," Kensi said. "Nell, have you found anything else yet on that man?"

"Joost Niesing. Nothing yet. We will concentrate on him more than before. Because right now, I don't think he is a victim. He probably has been one of the workers of the Brigada all along".

Though he listened to what Kensi and Nell said, Sam had kept staring at the screen. He was never the one to swear, but now they heard it all.  
"Shit. G was hit. Look at the blouse of that woman, there is blood on it right after he grabs her. How come we never noticed".

Right behind him, he heard a deep sigh. "Go and check hospitals, all of you. If Mr. Callen was shot, his wound should be taken care of. With a description of him, we will find him", Hetty said.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Years ago, some months after the Moscow assignment ended, Chris had stopped with the 'spy game' as a friend of her called it. Too many dear friends had been hurt or got killed in action and she had enough of seeing dead bodies or suffering people.  
She had worked in Brazil in a hospital for some months, voluntarily, until another job offer came. Since then, she had been working at the Embassies. Quite save jobs. Never a home that really felt like home, always the nomadic lifestyle which suited her restless feelings and prevented her from more broken relationships.

It all too often happened that men asked her out for a date. Her best friend would say it was because of her 'glamorous model looks'. Although Chris never complained about her looks [she was tall, but hardly taller than the men she fancied; she was slim, but stronger than one would think, because she liked to work out], she hated it when men never looked beyond looks. She had some relations, but they ended, either because of jealous feelings and trust issues, or because her partner had difficulties with her unusual job. The times co-workers asked her out, was mostly because they wanted to talk about work.  
She was the one with an unsettled life and no future plans herself, she knew. In fact, she had decided that after the Washington contract ended, next month, she would take some time off to travel. Chris had never, ever, expected this to happen. Stuck on a ship, on a yacht, with three men that would keep her in here until the person that appeared in her nightmares every now and then, would meet her again.

Despite the fact she was forced right now to take care of this man's wound, she would deal with it like she had dealt with all patients before. Treat wounds carefully, let them heal properly. She sighed deeply before she really started, looking into this man's blue eyes.

More careful than before, Chris clipped away the rest of his shirt and lifted his arm. It díd hurt indeed, but Callen noticed she was not doing it on purpose.

"It's gone through", she told him.

Actually, Chris was relieved by that. It meant she did not have to do any nasty cutting. "There is an entry and exit wound, and I think it already started to be infected. The bleeding has stopped, though".  
She continued talking, her voice softer than he heard before. There was a certain tone in her voice that calmed him, odd but true. She probably had done this before, because most people he knew would not stay as calm as she was right now.  
"Now I have to clean this mess, and I know it will hurt even more. Just keep breathing in, deeply. And you breathe out, slowly. The pain won't kill you, it's just a temporary thing. Try to imagine you'd be on a great trip to let's say Fiji, with your best friends."

Meanwhile, Chris had started cleaning the wound. She was quiet, but soon she continued talking. "Borya, the nastiest thing will come now. I'll be checking if the bullet damaged your bone."

Callen looked away, trying to do the trick she tried to tell him. He knew that meditation might help, he remembered it from past experiences. Even during torture it had helped him through. Despite all that, he seriously felt sick and extremely dizzy immediately when she started poking his arm. He could not help moaning.

"It's okay. I'm done. I think it's only a lot of soft tissue wounding, it'll heal with sutures. I am going to do those now."

Chris quickly glanced at the man. Sweat had covered his forehead, a sign he did not feel well. She did not really mind having hurt him, he simply deserved it. He certainly had worse wounds, she noticed several scars on his chest. Probably this guy Borya was one of the bad guys who always managed to get away. He was now completely off guard, feverish and weak and not really paying attention to what she was doing. If she worked fast, her plan would just work out well.

She took all she needed to stitch the wound, from the needle to the bandages, and luckily there was Neosporin in the kit as well.  
One more glance at the door that was closed, and she did what she had to do.

Not prepared at all for the Kyusho Jitsu she did on him, Callen was unconscious in only some seconds. Chris quickly finished the stitches, put on the Neosporin and afterwards lots of bandages. Once ready, she took the scissors from the first aid kit. Then she climbed on the bed and managed to loosen the screws of the small window, put it off and easily hoisted herself through it.

* * *

**Thank you for reading. Your reviews are welcome of course.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **  
_It is said that G. Callen is fictional! Nêh… Still, I'm so glad he wanted to play along, though he usually lives in the place created by Shane Brennan, and belonging to CBS. Just like to have fun in here!_

* * *

**-8-**

Chris figured this was the only way out, going on deck unnoticed and then walk away, self-assured and just mix in the crowd in the harbor.  
It was quieter on the piers than she expected, not many people were around and most yachts were unused. She quickly checked for hiding places, noticing it was two piers away. Just when she was about to leave the first pier, Joost came walking from the opposite side, carrying a grocery bag and not yet aware of her being there.  
Chris knew she was a better fighter and she was prepared, she still carried the pair of scissors with her.

"Verdorie, Christianne! How did you get away?" Joost shouted when he finally saw her. He dropped the bag and came closer to her, ready to hit her.

"Just let me pass, Joost. Pretend you did not see me" Chris asked. She desperately hoped he would do what she asked, simply for old time sake.

"No way" he answered.

"Jawel" she stated, "Now get out of my way." She had come closer to him and swiftly kicked him against his knees which made him go down. "Joost, now let me go. You don't know what—" Looking at his face that suddenly changed, she knew she was too late to turn around to defend herself for what was to come. Something hard hit her from behind and knocked her out cold.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Re-watching all images, they finally saw the moment that their agent in charge got hit by a bullet. He grabbed for his shoulder only once at first and because of the masks, they were never able to see how much pain he was feeling, or not.  
Only those who knew how G. Callen managed with pain and with the will to carry on with what he did, could see through his moves and would notice that something was off. In this case, Sam knew and from the looks on Hetty's face, he knew she had seen the same thing and she did have her own difficulties with it.  
The team had made calls to all hospitals in town but no patients that matched the description of Callen had shown up.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Callen himself was slowly waking up. He could not tell how long he had been out. He knew though that he was angry that the woman had easily done the trick to have him pass out after the sweet talk before that. However, to his surprise, he did feel much better than before.  
Looking around, he was sure this was not the same room he stayed in before. Not only that. Chris Young was not around either.

He got up and opened some cupboards, then he found some towels and shirts, and decided to try a quick shower, hoping the bandages could be redone if necessary. Soon after he finished, he entered the salon.

"Alec, hi" he said when he saw his Brigada companion up there, looking at some paperwork and the helm. "Where are the others?"

"The bitch is in the other room, down there. The Dutchman left."

Callen was not sure what had happened, but he was pretty sure this was not the same yacht he had been on. "What are you doing, is there anything I can do to assist you?"

"Borya, you'd better rest. You look so much better than yesterday."

"Yesterday… What's the time right now? How long have I've been sleeping?"

"Man, you were completely out when we arrived yesterday afternoon. It's 11:00 am now, and I want to sail off soon", Alec said.

Callen could hardly believe he had missed so many hours. He looked around and was glad he found some donuts and fresh coffee in the galley kitchen. After that, he took an apple. "So, we are leaving the marina Alec. Where are we meeting Dmitri?"

"Tonight or tomorrow morning at one of his clubs, that's when he wants his special delivery" said Alec, nodding to the locked door in the back. "Bring her some water. And whatever you do to her: leave no bruises". Immediately after, he started the engine and went out to undock.

Callen took a glass of water and unlocked the door to the back. There were two small bedrooms in there. On one of the beds he found her, knees pulled up, her back resting to the backside of the bed. It was far from the same woman he had seen the day before. He could see she had been crying a lot and there was a trace of dried blood on her face, coming from a gash on her forehead.

"Hey, what's wrong" he asked, putting the glass next to the bed.

"Donder op. Stop talking and just leave" she said.

This was one of the times Callen really hated his job. Outsiders should never be dragged into the nastier side of his work, one of the rules he nearly always could keep up to.  
He saw she was hurt, both physically as emotionally right now, and he could and should be the one to get her out of there. But he also felt the urge and necessity to stop the Brigada's Vor and the only way to do that was to get close to Dmitri. He knew he and Alec were supposed to get this woman, Chris Young, to Dmitri. Callen did not know anything of her, nor why Dmitri wanted her to be with him. She did not look like a run-away girlfriend to him, still, he figured it was something personal.  
Callen still needed to use her and now he saw she was more vulnerable than before, it felt even worse to him.

"Let me have a look at your head, Chris," Callen said. He saw the panic rise as he came closer to her.

"No. Don't you dare touching me, you—you, he—go away." She looked away, ashamed that she was afraid and crying again.

"Listen, I am not going to hurt you" he said.

"**HE** will be and you know it."  
Chris looked up at Borya, wondering if she really just caught a spark of genuine worry in his sea blue eyes. She quickly looked away. Of course he would not worry. Not after what she had done to him. Not, because he was one of Dmitri's men. She needed to pull herself together and find another way to escape. Soon.

"Right" he said, more harshly than before. "I'll leave you in here. In case you want to know; we're leaving the marina right now and Dmitri will meet us this night. Anything you want to say to that?"

She swallowed her fear away. "Yes. Promise me you'll kill me before Dmitri does".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Another loud whistle from Eric, standing on the platform. He looked seriously tired from the long days looking at screens, which was nothing new, but this time without results, and with hardly any breaks at all.

Once they were all up, it was Nell who told them "We have a dead body in the marina".


	9. Chapter 9

**-9-**

"Dead bodies are not necessarily our problem, are they?" Deeks said.

"Not necessarily, but this person is. Or well, maybe he was. He's dead now," Nell said. "We tried to find out about him but until now, there was hardly anything we found. Except his body. It is Joost Niesing, one of the persons that came with Callen."

Kensi was curious "And he was found in which marina?"

"You'd be surprised. A fisherman discovered his body in the water, only two piers away from our boatshed" Eric answered. "LAPD was warned and they noticed our query, so they warned us."

Although looking at the situation would be just an easy thing, Sam decided to go there with the whole team. "Eric, focus on camera footage. Keep us informed if you find anything useful. Now, let's go guys."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He was able not to show how her remark shocked him. "No way that I will be the one to kill you. I'm in for my payment and I'm sure there will be a way out once the two of you meet."  
Callen hoped she would react to that, so he could prepare to what was to come and how he could get as close to Dmitri as possible.

It worked just the other way around. She stood up, looking furiously and then she slapped him in the face, aiming for his wounded arm afterwards. Callen managed to grab her pulses.  
"Stop that" he snapped. "Now you listen to me. There is no way out of here, so you'd better behave, before my buddy Alec will be around."

"The bastard must have told you he has already" she said, staring straight into his eyes.

There was no way Callen could ignore the despair, the hurt and the hatred he saw in hers. There were so many things going through his mind. He wished there was a way he could get her to trust him, a way to comfort her as well. Although he had been angry at first that she had been able to get through his defenses so easily and leave him unconscious, he admired her for her guts too.  
Callen himself had been in situations like this as well, desperate to escape but needing to find the right time for that. She did the same. Chris Young was no innocent nurse or press officer at all, that was for sure. He knew she was a survivor, a bit like a wild cat, someone he might want work with as a partner, or even better, he thought, admitting to himself that he was impressed by her good looks too.

To comfort her, to get her to trust him, sure, but not now. Not when she was as angry and scared at the same time, not now that his make-believe partner must have done something to her that made her feel like this. Not now she definitely had decided that he was one of her worst enemies.  
For the time being, he saw no chance to have a decent talk to her. He turned around to leave the small room.

"Don't worry, I will find a way" she said. "If you are too much of a coward, I'll find a way to stay away from Dmitri Vayavich".

It sounded all too convincing to him. He wished he knew what was to come next.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was really odd to have a murder victim so close to their own boatshed. There were police officers around and the coroner arrived nearly at the same time as they did.

"Any clues yet?" Sam asked one of the officers, right after he identified himself.

"No Sir, the only thing we see are stabbing wounds".

Jesper had quickly overlooked the piers and walked a bit further. "Sam? There's fruit over there".

"No kidding. Don't tell me you need more apples", Sam said to his younger partner.

"That is not what I mean. Someone dropped groceries in there, not on purpose," Jesper told.

While Kensi and Deeks were talking to the coroner about the victim, asking to send all information there was to Eric, both Sam and Jesper took a look at the grocery bag. There was nothing specific found around the place, it was as plain as it could be: a grocery bag that had been dropped.  
From where they were standing, Sam counted at least 14 yachts. "Let's just check this pier anyway".

"There is… the 'Angely'? How about that?"

Of course, it might just be a coincidence, the name that was the same as the name of the nightclub that belonged to Vayavich. Still, Sam took his phone and called in. "Eric. Find out about a yacht called the 'Angely'. Find out who owns it. And ask Hetty if it's okay we're checking it."  
Waiting for the answer he signed towards Deeks and Kensi to join them, meanwhile staying on the phone. "Yes? Right. Eric, not only we need to know whose yacht it is. Keep us posted on ANY feed from the marina".

Sam looked at his team, drew his gun and saw they did the same. Then he gestured to Kensi, both of them would go in first, followed by Deeks and Jesper. The small door could be opened without any problems: it was unlocked. A quick glance through the salon showed nobody was in there. "Clear in here" Kensi said, coming back from the master bedroom.

Deeks' "Clear" came from the other side. "Clear, but hey, somebody has been bleeding in here, definitely", he added.

Looking inside the small cabin, they noticed the towels and sheet that all had blood on it indeed, and a shirt that had been cut into pieces. On the opposite bed, there was a first aid kit, there was a bowl with water and some blooded cloths.

"The window is missing in there", Sam said. "Any ideas on why that is?"

"Maybe somebody shot somebody in here", Jesper thought.

"No way. There's no glass or whatever stuff the windows are made of," Kensi answered.

"Could've been that whoever has been in here, removed the window to enter the yacht", Deeks said.

"Keys are inside the door. Still, sounds not logical to me either".

"Do you all think the four of them were in here?" Sam said.

"Yes, I do. I can't get it out of my head that it all comes together in the name 'Angely'. Russian for 'Angels'. It's Russian and it's the same name of the nightclub Kolcheck mentioned," Jesper said.

"So let's think it is connected. What if that dead Dutch guy was locked up in here and he escaped, and the Russians killed him?" Deeks came up with. "RussiaN. I mean, no way Callen would kill the guy. Would he?"

Sam was quiet for some time. Would his partner kill during this cover, just to keep the cover going? Sam really did not know. He had seen Callen do things that he never thought he would be capable of. But not in this case he guessed. He suddenly realized Callen was injured. "Maybe it is G's blood in here," he said. "But where is he? Where are the others?"

He decided to call OPS again. "Eric, any news on the yacht or on the marina?" He listened to Eric, hung up, looked at the others and said "Boatshed".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Anything wrong, Borya?" Alec asked when he heard Callen sigh from frustration.

"Not really. It's just that she says she will keep trying to find a way to escape from Dmitri. Why does he want her back anyway?"

"It's a 'no need to know' to me, man. The only thing I know is that I'm getting paid, just like you, to get Chris Young to him without any scratches or bruises. In fact, I don't really care at all. She tried to get away earlier. We got her back. Had to hit her though."

"What about the 'no scratches no bruises' thing. She's been bleeding. Will Dmitri agree upon that?"

Alec smirked. "Probably not. But she doesn't listen to me. Nor did she listen to her colleague. You might give it another try. Hold this for me, will you," he said, nodding to the helm.  
Although Callen loved the Pacific, he had never been the sailing type of man. He was glad Alec seemed to know what he did, and even more glad that Alec was back in only some minutes.

"You try again, Borya. Get her to drink and eat something, get her to have a shower and change clothes. Found these" he said as he handed Callen a clean shirt and skirt, a cup of coffee and a muffin.

He walked to the small door at the back and unlocked it with one hand. Immediately after, he lost his balance and nearly dropped the things he carried, as the door was smashed towards him and she tried to get out. "Just get back in there, now", he said.  
He saw her defiant look and turned around. Alec had a gun pointed at her. "Go on, shoot", Chris said.

"Just stop, both of you," Callen said. "You know Alec is not going to shoot you, and Alec knows I won't let him. So just cooperate, dammit".  
He had to prevent that things got out of control indeed. He decided he needed to make a change in plans quickly and inform Chris about his role in the play. It might be the best or perhaps the only way to keep her from being hurt more than she was already. Besides that, he could find out more about Dmitri and what he was planning, after all she might know.

Definitely more brisk than he wanted, he pushed her back and handed her the food and clothes. "Eat and drink a bit and freshen yourself up. You'll feel better."

Chris looked at both men, knowing she was defeated for the time being. She did want to get rid of the dirty feeling she had and decided she might feel better and stronger if she did do what Borya just suggested. She sipped her coffee and went for a shower after that.  
Nearly redressed she thought that she needed another cup of coffee, hardly able to fight the sudden drowsiness that came over her.

* * *

**_A/N: Love to read your reviews and comments, they might help me to keep the story going! _**


	10. Chapter 10

**-10-**

The four of them gathered around the screen, listening to what the tech had to say and had to show.

"Eric, talk us in. What do you have?"

"Found you a ship. Found you a car and found you four people".

"It is called a yacht. Not a ship" Deeks interrupted. "You're used to your surfboard, but not all the other things on the water are called ship. These were yachts".

"Shut up Deeks" Kensi said. "Eric, please go on".

Eric scraped his throat and continued. "There were only some yachts occupied yesterday afternoon. We don't have clear vids, but what we have is four people walking to the ship, yacht, that you said is the Angely. Two of them seem to be forced, the other two—"

"No way!" Sam intervened, pointing at the screen. "See that? That's G, no doubt. He should be together with this one, Alec, to be the one to lead the other guy and the woman to the yacht. What happened?"

"Dunno, going to find out. But found you a car too", Eric said. "On the large parking near the boatshed". He enlarged the number plate on a grey Lexus. "Kaleidoscope tracked it by the way. It has been parked for the last four days in 'ta-da': the parking belonging to Wilshire Boulevard. Indeed".

"And it belongs to?" Jesper wanted to know.

"The boy asks the right questions," Eric said. "The Lexus belongs to Dmitri Vayavich. The boss himself".

"Eric, are there any more streams of what happened during the last 24 hours?"

It was Hetty who answered Sam's last question. "Yes, we have more footage. I suggest you all come back in here. Immediately. There's more than watching video materials only".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"What do you mean, she won't bother us for the time being?" Callen looked up from his coffee.

Alec just told him that for the next couple of hours, perhaps until they would be sailing to the place where Dmitri would have them picked up, Chris Young would not bother them.

"Did you really think I want to spend the rest of the day and perhaps the night with her, acting like that?" his companion asked. "Let's just put it this way: there was just a bit more of a mix in her cup of coffee. Not only caffeine, you know."

"Mix what? With coffee?"

"G-riffick. You know. Just a bit more than usual, because of the effects of the caffeine" Alec said.

Callen got worried. GHB was dangerous enough in whatever combination. The fact that Alec added 'more than usual' might have the wrong side effects, especially since she had probably hardly had eaten anything. "How much, Alec?"

"Four pure grams should do the trick".

"Dammit. It could be far too much. She could be out for hours, if not worse. Have you thought how Dmitri will act when we deliver her comatosely?"  
He felt the urge to rush to Chris, but managed to keep calm. "I'm going to check on her now. Be sure that when anything is wrong, it's all up to you to explain to Dmitri."

Dressed only in a black shirt and knickers, she sat on the ground, her back leaning to the door of the tiny bathroom, watching him come in. He noticed the narrowed pupils in her navy blue eyes, a sign that the drugs were working already.

"Chris, come, you should lay down."

"Don't feel well" was all she said, slightly slurring.

Callen managed to help her to get up, using only his right arm, and lead her toward the bed. Once she was in there, she nestled her head against his right shoulder, mumbling something in her own language.

All too often, he had met women who seemed to be interested in him as if he was something cute they could claim, buy or own. Kensi once told him it was because of his good looks. He had to use that 'quality' for his job too, which sometimes made him feel dirty and used. It was something he could discuss only with Kensi as she had to work like that even more often, all for the good cause. Callen wasn't interested in women who were acting like crazy fan girls. There were some great nights with nice girls, if he wanted it like that. True, he met beautiful women too.  
But he had trouble with relationships in general, with trusting other people. For the time being, it was so much easier living the solitary life he was used to. Finding the right girl at the right moment was not really on his mind.

But now he fancied this special woman who distrusted him more than he wished. Chris Young - who fascinated him, not only because she looked good, but because he was interested in the person behind the good looks. And it was Chris Young who now lied sensually snuggled against his body. Though he knew all too well it was a side effect of the drugs, Callen was surprised how good it felt to hold her like this, her warm and well-shaped body against his.  
She smelled fresh and vaguely like flowers and now that she was not wearing her hair in a braid anymore, her long curls were everywhere.  
Seeing she had to fight the desire to sleep, it was the right time to talk to her. "I am going to get you out of here, Chris. That's my job. I'm in here to catch the bad guys, but I don't belong to them," Callen whispered as he did not want Alec to be able to overhear. He knew she heard him and hoped she still understood what he just said.

He carefully got up and covered her body with one of the throws. Then he brushed one of the long curls off her forehead. She slowly stretched and moaned softly. Looking at her, completely relaxed as she was, he thought she looked gorgeous now she slept.  
As pretty as an angel.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"What do you think Hetty meant when she said there was more to look at?" Deeks asked as they headed back to the OSP headquarters. "I mean, we could see all Eric showed us in the boatshed".

"It must be something else than, but I can't think of something she did not want us to see in there," his partner answered.

The two of them arrived just before Sam and Jesper did. Heading to the bullpen, it surprised them Hetty was the one on the small platform, using a simple referee whistle to catch their attention. "Your presence is required in here, lady and gentlemen!" their tiny office manager said.

The four of them trotted upstairs to the domain of the NCIS technical operator and intelligence analyst.

"Go on" Hetty shooed them.

"What did you mean when you said there was more than vids only Hetty?" Sam wanted to know.

"All of you are focusing far too much of what happened in the marina. For heaven's sake, there is so much more going on."

Nell and Eric looked nearly guilty. "We did find out where Callen is right now Hetty. Or at least, where we think he is". A slight smile appeared on Hetty's face. "Ah, that IS good news Miss Jones. Share with us, would you please?"

Although it was dim and the camera was far away, they all could see a woman walking on the pier, obviously disturbed by somebody who came from the opposite direction. They could see the gesturing, then the man dropped a bag with groceries. Beyond the sight of the camera something must have happened, and only minutes later, there suddenly were three persons who went back to the yacht. Forwarding the camera's feed, it was almost one hour later they saw two men walked toward the main pier. Again, unseen what happened, only one of them returned.

"We made some calls. The harbormaster told us there is one yacht missing on pier 3 right now, the 'Dolpin Hunter', which left late last night and hasn't returned yet.  
Before anyone could react to that, Hetty spoke. "There's one minute left before director Vance will be on screen, sharing the intel of the most recent meeting of all the agencies. Focus on that first".

* * *

_**Thank you for reading! **_


	11. Chapter 11

Had some trouble to get through this chapter. Might have been not the best episode of the season :-) Thank you for all your great characters CBS & Shane Brennan!

* * *

**-11-**

"At 3 -2 -1," Eric switched off the other footage, after all, director Vance might not ask anything else if he saw nothing else.

Instead of the usual place in Washington, it was clear that the connection was made at a different location than they were used to.

"Am I on screen, Eric?" he asked. He continued immediately of Eric's 'Yes you are director' "We've gathered in Langley, rolling out a list of tasks for all agencies. Helicopters of the Air Support Division of the Los Angeles Police discovered, with heat detection, at least twenty human sources in the night club 'Angely'. This club should be closed at this part of the week. Nobody opened the door when four officers asked for it. There's a Swat-team on its way and so are teams of Homeland Security and the FBI. We want your team and one of the CIA in there too, so it will be a joined taskforce. I want you to be there in forty-five minutes. Any questions?"

Kensi hesitated before she spoke. "It is the club we were about to visit day after tomorrow. The club where lots of Russians will be".

It was Nell who reacted: "And it is the club that is owned by Dmitri Vayavich".

"Right. I suggest you gear up and take the Ford, all four of you" Hetty said. Once she saw they all went for the armory, she nodded to director Vance.

"Well, Henrietta? What can you tell me about agent Callen's lonely mission?"

"Oh, Leon… We have lost all eyes and ears ever since the incident at the Consulate. We only noticed today that he's been hit when he was in there, but there are no hospital records. Mr. Beale and Miss Jones discovered a yacht called the 'Angely' on which the team found towels and sheets with blood on them. Probably Mr. Callen's. IF I have my people find out where he is right now, I AM going to ask them to get him out of there Leon."

"You cannot do that right now Hetty. Callen knew it was going to be a difficult and lonely mission. His task was to get as close as possible to Vayavich, find whatever proof that this man is responsible for multiple murders and several other crimes like drug trafficking, blackmail and so on."

"He might find out, but there should be a way to proof it too. So far, he has no microphones, no cameras, nothing he can tape to prove the existence of a secret criminal society around Vayavich. We need to contact him and get him out of there," Hetty argued.

"Or contact him, be sure he'll have the right material to 'catch' the Brigada leader and let Callen stay until we can arrest the leader ánd his elite army. You know that that is what Callen would want to do."

"Perhaps a fresh and sharp Callen, Leon, but I doubt that my boy, now he's wounded and in there for so long already, would reason the same".

"Henrietta, you might be right. Too bad there is no way to ask him right now. Now, you and I should concentrate on the 'Angely'. We will talk again later," he said. On that, he cut the connection.

She sighed. The last time her lead agent had been cut off his team this long had been years ago. The team needed him, heck, she needed him, back in here. He'd be the one to solve this case sooner from the OSP than he would do from within the Brigada itself.

"Mr. Beale, you will be in charge of the ears and eyes in this action with Sam and the team. And Miss Jones, please go on with the footage from the marina. I'm sure you can trace Mr. Callen."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He really hated it that there was no way he could figure out right now why a Russian mafia boss had ordered his people to take a Dutch young woman to see him. How had Vayavich known she would be at the Consulate at that time? Was her colleague the one that had told them so? It had surprised him Chris spoke Russian. Callen hardly knew anyone around who did so.  
Right now, the three of them were just floating in a stupid boat, ship or whatever, somewhere far from the shore, waiting for something he did not know. If only he felt stronger and if only Chris was awake and alert, there might be time to explain to each other why they were here. And if only there was a way right now to contact his team, Nell or Eric, to ask them to find out more.

"Borya? Get ready, they're on their way." Alec pointed at two small speedboats that were quickly coming nearer.  
Callen was alerted in no-time. No time for 'if only-s' anymore. The damn show was going on and he had to be in it, no matter what. Some minutes later, two of the men of the speedboats entered the yacht. Callen recognized Evgeny who was around at the consulate, but not the other one. Probably also one of the elite team of the Brigada.

"Nearly time to hand over the package, Alec, Borya," said Evgeny. "Where is she?"

Alec answered: "The bitch is down in the back, probably still out. Don't you think so, Borya?"

Although Callen would love to smack the perky face of his companion, he had to play along. "She was indeed and she probably still is".

"Out… as in drugged and out?" the other man asked.

Alec started laughing. "That's how out she is. Wanna play, Igor?"

He needed to ban all feelings right now. It made him feel nauseous to even think of what Alec just suggested. Just as Callen was afraid things would really get out of control, it was Evgeny who calmly stated: "the Vor is waiting for us to deliver the woman. Borya, you and her should come with me."

The only thing Callen could do was nod and walk toward the small room first. Chris was still where he'd left her, knocked out by the GHB, still dressed in only a shirt and knickers. He reached for the skirt that he had handed her earlier that afternoon and couldn't help thinking that it was the first time he could remember that he was _dréssing_ a woman. It felt uneasy and he had to stop thinking of a possible other moment he would like to spend with her. He managed to do both, get her dressed and ban all other feelings.  
"Evgeny, I can't carry her, got shot at the consulate. The wound is clean, but there's no power in my left arm at the moment."

Callen held the small door open and stepped on to the smaller boat, followed by Evgeny who put the still motionless woman on the bench. "You might want to keep her from falling off. Vayavich does not like his girls with bruises".  
"What does he plan to do with her?" Callen asked, hoping Evgeny knew more. "Don't know. The Vor asked to take her to his nightclub, 'Angely.'"

There was no time left to talk once Evgeny started the powerful engine of the boat. Callen sat behind him, holding Chris close. Her long, loose curls were everywhere as a result of the wind and the speed. They nearly blocked his view to what he saw right behind them. The other speedboat followed them and just a minute later, he noticed the flames on the yacht. It exploded before they had reached the shore.


	12. Chapter 12

**-12-**

The first thing she noticed was that it was cold. Or rather, she was cold.  
Chris could not remember that she was on the backseat of a car, yet she was. It took some time before she could recall where she had been before, but a part of her memory was missing, that was for sure.  
How good it would be to block all awful memories – the sight of two of her team being shot, the rudeness of the Russians, the hostage taking, the betrayal by Joost…

So far, Chris had been able to suppress her fear and sorrow pretty well, but now it hit her like a ton of bricks. There was no way she could control her tears and the sound of her sobs alerted both the driver as the other passenger.

"That's better, she's awake. Never wanted to face Dmitri with this present that was comatose like she was," Evgeny grinned.  
Callen got worried. It seemed there was little time to keep her out of reach of Vayavich and even less to find out why she was afraid.

"The 'Angely' is two blocks from here. I'll be glad when this part of the deal will be done," Evgeny said. "Hopefully Vayavich will send me back to Chicago. Where will you be going after this Borya?"

"Really don't know. Maybe the Brigada has some new tasks in town. I'll just wait and see," he answered.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Nell quickly ran down from ops. "Hetty, I think you'll need to see this," she said, her face paler than ever. With the whole team gone, the young analyst was worried with what she had seen and heard and although the older office manager seemed to be very busy, Nell felt she needed to share her findings as soon as possible.

Hetty looked up. "Yes, Miss Jones?"

"Uhm, I just got this message from the Marine Police on screen. There was a fire and an explosion on a yacht, some miles away, at sea. It was the 'Dolphin Hunter', the yacht that was probably taken by Callen and his companion. So far, no remains of survivors or victims."

Hetty was quiet for a while. Then she sighed. "Get Mr. Hanna on the phone, will you?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The four of them had just put on their bulletproof vests and geared up for whatever action there was to be, when Sam's phone rang.  
"It's Hetty" he said, knowing it would never be an ordinary call of their manager, who was the one that sent them to this joined raid.

"Sam here." He was quiet, listening to what Hetty had to say. "We'll go there and let you know once we know more." After he disconnected, he looked at his team.

"What? What's wrong Sam?" Kensi asked, worried by the look on Sam's face.

"It's Callen. The yacht he was on, exploded about an hour and a half ago. Hetty—she wants us to go there".

The sharp inhale he heard from Kensi meant she shared his worries. Could it be that good luck had left Callen at last?

"Guys. Why worry. G. Callen is attractive for trouble as I am attracted to a great night out with a beautiful woman, but he always manages to escape. Doesn't he?" Deeks said.

There were no optimistic looks or comments of his team this time.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Dzjeez… What's going on in here?" Evgeny stopped the car, like the police officer who stood on the road gestured.

It would be the best way to get noticed by the traffic cam Callen saw nearby. "I will ask. Wait". He opened the door on his side of the car and got out, his face turned to the camera. "Anything going on there, officer?"

"The road is blocked, sir. Please turn around and find a different route to your destination".

"We will do so, thank you." He got back inside and once Evgeny had turned the car, he said: "It must have been something at the 'Angely', Evgeny. There was a complete army out there on the streets, did you notice?"

"We should contact the Vor right now Borya. I don't want to drive around the city with this woman."

"You tell. Pull over and make the call. There's plenty of space in there," Callen pointed. Again, he had seen a camera, so the car would be noticed IF somebody had an eye for it. He hoped it would be picked up by Eric.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Hetty had summoned Nell and Eric to check all other activities on the water near the spot the yacht had exploded.  
It was incredible that - from where they worked, behind the screens at the headquarters - they were able to find out more and sooner than the team who arrived at the office of the water police.

It was Nell who discovered the two speedboats near the Yacht Club at Redondo Beach. It was Eric who let his computer track all cars that had been parked in there for the hours before the yacht exploded. It was Eric who shouted "Gotcha!" although it was over an hour after Callen was caught on camera.  
And it was Hetty who dialed Sam's number again, this time with the good news.

Meanwhile, Eric focused on hunting the car from where it was spotted last. Too bad the track ended only some blocks further from there.

Sam, Jesper, Kensi and Deeks had arrived at the parking garage where the car Callen and Evgeny had used, was left. Although the parking had several cameras, none of them had footage of any of the passengers leaving the car.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Immediately after the call with Vayavich it had been clear that the Vor was not at the 'Angely'. Evgeny started driving again, putting his car at the exact spot in the parking garage that he had been told.

"Now we leave the car, walk a bit further and we'll be picked up in the mall across the street", he said.

"Walk?" Callen was surprised about that action. "How about walking around with this crying woman, who's barefoot? What if people start asking questions, what if she starts screaming or talking? It's a stupid idea, you should never have agreed upon that."

"Did I say we were to take her with us?" Evgeny looked at him with a satisfied smile. "Because we are not." From the glove compartment, he took a small syringe and handed it to Callen. "It will keep her quiet Borya, so, would you please?"

He would have to leave her in there. Leave her behind, not knowing what would happen next to her. It was the first time ever that Callen wished he could quit in the middle of an operation without solving it. Simply quit and take Chris with him.

"Please, don't" she pleaded, trying to crawl away from him, from the threat of getting drugged again. She looked scared and angry at the same time. He then realized she had never heard him earlier on, when he told her he was one of the good guys. She'd never trust him right now; Callen could read it in her navy blue eyes. To her, he was the enemy. He hated this situation. There was nothing encouraging he could pass on to her.

"Lie still" he calmly said. Then, he quickly injected the fluid in the back of her shoulder. Whatever it was, he could see it worked quickly. It hurt him to hear her murmur "I hate you..."

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_Oh, your reviews are so good to read. Please, keep them coming!_


	13. Chapter 13

**-13-**

He took a deep breath, knowing he simply had to be diverted from what she had just said. "And now what" Callen wanted to know from Evgeny. "She's out and we should just leave her in here?"

"Yes we do. She'll be very surprised to see who will accompany her from now on, so I heard. And you and me, we should go to the mall by now. There is some shopping to be done and we will be picked up in an hour", Evgeny answered.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Despite the fact their team had not been around where the real action was, the joined operation force of several agencies had done a miraculous job. A well planned raid turned out to be on the spot where it should have been.  
The good news that all hostages were freed after three days, too long days, was buzzing all over town, all over the country and all over the world in fact, because so many Dutch people had been involved.  
Most captivators were arrested, only four of them had been killed in action.

The outcomes were great. It was however very difficult to link this hostage taking to Dmitri Vayavich himself. The Vor of the Brigada ánd his elite group had disappeared completely, so it seemed.

"It drives me mad," Sam muttered, "G is still not able to contact us".

"Well, he did show up on camera", Jesper argued optimistically. "So he is alive".

Deeks looked at their temporary team leader. "Don't go there apple-boy. We all noticed you have never faced Sam really-really mad. I have and believe me, you'd better be far from him at that moment."

"Jesper is right Deeks. We all saw him on screen and he definitely KNEW where the cameras were," Kensi said. "It was his way of showing he was alright".

"Now the Angely has been emptied, there is no way we can visit the club with Arkady Kolcheck as we agreed upon, can we?" Jesper asked. "So, we have to inform him, don't you think?"

"Excellent thinking young man."  
As ever, Hetty had entered the bullpen unnoticed as ever. "Excellent. My suggestion is that you and Miss Blye will still be accompanying Mr. Kolcheck but ask him to take you to the very same casino where he and Mr. Callen went on the first introduction to the Brigada. Be there tonight."

All of them were looking at the tiny office manager. Hetty raised her eyebrows in a way only she could, the way they all knew they had to jump into action.

"We'll pay Kolcheck a visit. Let's go, Jesper," Sam said, in a better mood now there was something he could plan. He already grabbed the keys of his Challenger, knowing his young partner would follow.

"Yeah. Jesper, allow me to find you some decent clothes for this night, will you?" Kensi eagerly asked.

Jesper briefly looked around, nearly at the door. "You mean I can't go in there like this?" She smiled. "Gosh no. There are some things in life you need to learn," Kensi said.

"Let me be the best example of that Jesper. Sharp dressed whenever I need to be", Deeks intervened, sharp as ever, dressed in a simple jeans and plain t-shirt.

Kensi couldn't help she snorted to that last remark. She loved it when her partner started talking nonsense like now, she had to admit. It helped her to put all things in perspective.

"Miss Blye, you will have to be dressed carefully indeed. I want you to have ears and eyes on each and every one you will meet once you are inside with Mr. Barcuk. And I want him to be able to do the same."

As ever, Hetty had a way to add just that little something to what the wardrobe had to offer. For Kensi it meant she'd carry a small clutch which could carry so much more than one would suspect. Jesper on the other hand would be wearing a tie, one of the latest Hetty had ordered. A novelty that even Q would have used in a James Bond movie indeed, with dots all over. Five of the dots were cameras that each recorded images from another angle.  
No-one would escape from the screens at ops, where Nell and Eric would analyze every single picture and run all faces through recognition programs.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"A tuxedo?" Callen exclaimed when Evgeny had told him the purpose of them to do some shopping. "You must be kidding! What plans does the Vor have for us?"

"I really don't know, Borya". Evgeny was calm as ever. "He asked me to get two tuxedos from Mike's. We'll have to fit first. I'm not used to wearing suits".

It reminded Callen of the times Hetty just picked the right costume for the right occasion, even in the right size, from the wardrobes at the Office. Only for special ops, mostly with Kensi. Those ops seemed relatively simple now, some of them lasted a day, some a week. So different from this operation which he never could get a grip on, so far.  
He remembered he had been so confident the moment he went undercover this time, yet it felt so messy right now. Maybe he'd just feel better if there was the possibility to talk to Sam or Hetty. He knew he would definitely have felt better if he had succeeded in getting Chris away from Dmitri, like he expected he could have, but failed to do.

Now, he needed to look forward, without guilt influencing his judgment. Even if it meant buying a tuxedo.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The car still drove and the voice she heard now sounded so familiar. However, Chris was still off too far to recognize it.  
"Hey Chrissie, wakker worden [wake up]!" Slowly, her mind started to work again. She had to blink several times to get rid of the blurred vision and even at the moment she had found out that the voice indeed belonged to the person she saw, it was absolutely the person she least expected to see.

"Dorien? What—why are you here?"

"Heh-heh, glad you're finally awake Chrissie. Gosh, you were always a bad sleeper, but they were right, you were tired. Why I am here? Guess what? I was invited for the surprise party too!" her friend answered.  
Chris felt like being on a rollercoaster. One moment there was this fear of being hurt by Dmitri and by the Russian guys who worked for him. And now she was awakened from a forced sleep by her best friend who seemed so very happy to share a party with her. Whatever happened, she had lost all control.

"Which party are you talking about?" she asked, tired of guessing, tired of not being in control. She should have been able to predict the answer though.

"The one our friend Dmitri is preparing, Chris! It will be the first time ever I'm able to make the right pictures of the rich and famous," Dorien answered enthusiastically, "don't you just love the idea?"

Chris looked closely at her best friend, a photographer, whom she had not seen since the time she worked in Brazil. Their jobs were so different and both of them were used to travel a lot. She was shocked of what her friend just said.  
"Dorien, no… Dmitri is not my friend and he can't be yours. Stop the car and let me explain," she said.

"Why, what would be there to explain? We're almost there! Dmitri _IS_ your friend, I mean, he said so and he is always interested in your whereabouts. We've met in Washington, in Brazil and he told me he knows you from the time you were in Moscow. Stop acting this silly, Chris, just enjoy!"

"Stop Dorien!" Chris started panicking. "There will be no party. Stop the car!" She was about to grab the steering wheel but was stopped by the concentrated face of her friend.

"Keep calm, we don't want any accidents now. We're nearly there, I'll park and you'll explain, right?" Dorien simply could not imagine why her friend reacted like this. It would be a great party indeed, she was sure about it. She quickly passed the last block and last traffic lights and put her car at the parking. "Now, Chris, what was it you wanted to tell?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Really? I have to work with you? Why can't I be the one to be where the party is as well?" Deeks looked at Sam who just told him the two of them had to stick together for that part of the night Kensi and Jesper would be at the casino with Arkady and his bodyguards.

The LAPD-liaison went on. "Don't tell me I will have to spend time with you in the car, waiting and watching and having to listen to your favorite music? Can Monty come to join me? No?" He had watched Sam's face who suddenly was annoyed by the thought HE had to stay in a car with Deeks.

"The dog is not coming, not in my Challenger", he grumbled.

"Your car, Sam?" his young partner Jesper asked with a smug smile. "Thought it belonged to the agency".

"Go on like this, Jesper and next time I'll put you and Deeks together on a watch for over a week." Sam could not help smiling at the bantering of his team mates. Indeed, he missed Callen and the bantering he was used to, but this Jesper was a great probie to work with and he grew to like him.

"It will be fun Marty. Spending time with me will be fun, don't you worry". The three of them could not help laughing on the sudden desperate face of their partner.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Simply because Evgeny trusted Borya, trusted Callen, and because Callen soon finished the dressing part, he had quickly sneaked into a phone shop and bought a no-contract prepaid cell phone. He now soon would find an opportunity to contact his team.

It was Alec who picked them up from the mall, drove the car and finally parked it behind the place Vayavich had asked. A place Callen recognized: it was the casino he and Arkady visited, weeks ago, or was it months ago?

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Thank you for reading. Your reviews are very welcome!


	14. Chapter 14

**-14-**

In fact, it had been seven weeks ago since Borya Gorjajev had visited the casino with Kolcheck. Kolcheck was surprised by the second visit of Sam and Jesper in only two days' time.  
Although slightly hesitating about re-visiting the casino, which probably was crowded with Brigada's men, known and unknown, he agreed on going in with Jesper.

"Kensi will be accompanying the both of you. We thought you might need a new girlfriend, at least for tonight."

"Kensi?" Arkady was curious. "Is it the dark-haired dangerous girl I have met before?"

Sam nodded, while Jesper laughed. "Dangerous? Well, not to us."

Which meant the boy was green, Sam thought. There had hardly been any cases around where Jesper had seen Kensi in action. Maybe there would be an opportunity to do some free fighting in the gym. Pretty sure he would be impressed by the skills of Kensi Blye.

Arkady Kolcheck looked at Jesper. "You're new, I know. If your team mate is going to join us, I might just as well leave two bodyguards at home, that's how far my trust in her goes. Besides, it looks better if I enter any club with a beautiful woman by my side," he smiled, "and you, young man, you can be, how do you say, my protégé. Have you ever done any gambling?"

At this moment, Jesper Barcuk was unaware how this night would change his ideas about his job.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She opened the door of the car as quickly as she could and walked away, even if it was barefoot like she still was.  
"Chris, wait!" She heard Dorien, her voice panicking. Something in the voice of her friend made her look around. She shouldn't have. When got things all messed up this way? When was it her best friend agreed to trust her worst enemy?

"You're not going to do it, Dorien. You don't have the guts to betray me," she said, and walked on.

"Она никогда не собиралась, мой маленький ангел, но вы были бы удивлены, что хороший разговор может сделать" [She never intended to, my little angel, but you would be surprised what a nice talk can do].  
It made her shiver. She knew it was him. Nobody would call her angel, only he, only Dmitri Vayavich. Dorien would not understand what he said, but she did. He used her friend to get to her, and it had been through her all the time.

"Now, Chrissy, I am so happy you accepted the invitation to the party, how about you, Dorien?" he asked in a sleek voice. "Come, let's go inside girls. Time for some dinner. Oh, and Chrissy, you look terrible. We should get you a bath, and get dressed for the best party ever".

That was exactly how he did it. Nearly hypnotizing. Would there be a choice for her?

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"There will be some others having dinner in here. It's a great place, have you been here before?" Alec asked.  
"On the other side, yes I have. An old friend invited me some weeks ago".

"Just checking. I know Borya, it was the first time we saw you in town and Vayavich wanted to know more of you. There's this camera room from where you can watch every single corner of the casino."

"Wonder if the Vor invited any other friends. I never needed to get this overdressed", Evgeny said. "Which makes me think, Alec, why you did not need a new suit?"

"My schedule will probably be another one".

The three of them went upstairs, where they met one of the other Brigada's elite members, Igor, in the camera room, obviously enjoying himself. "Look at Dmitri's face. He's watching the girls", he laughed. "He is like a little сын, a little boy, who can't wait to unpack his Christmas present".  
It was Evgeny who switched of the camera. "Let the Vor enjoy his privacy".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

There had been times when she and Dorien shared everything. From mathematic tests to high school musicals, from boyfriends to fun shopping days. Right now, nothing that she experienced was something she wanted to discuss and share with Dorien. In her way, Dorien had always be the easy-going type, but now she seemed to be so naïve. Still, Chris loved her, simply for old time sake. And if things had not been so complicated, she was sure that they would have fun again. One day.  
At this moment, her friend enjoyed the sauna in the private spa and bath house.  
Chris knew he was watching though, she could sense it. It made her feel even dirtier. All privacy was gone, it seemed impossible to escape from the camera. Even though the water in the whirlpool was warm enough, she still shivered.

"Enjoying yourself, my angel?" she heard the voice she hated - soft and repellent. She was disgusted to hear him, he had speakers and probably microphones in there, besides the cameras.

She would escape from him. Soon. She had to. Right now she needed to do the trick, the Fiji-trick she had mentioned to this Brigada man with the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen. Don't think, just do. She got out of the water and went for the smaller shower room. When she was nearly there, she really could not stop it and vomited in one of the trash cans. The showers were warm and nobody could see her tears when she turned her head toward the wall.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Although he did not have any appetite at all, Callen, ate some blini and fish, had a beer and let all kind of outcomes of this case whirl inside. At least he would have a chance to contact Sam or Hetty now he finally had a phone and some more privacy to make a phone call.

"You're quiet, Borya. Is anything bothering you?" Alec asked.

He looked up. "Not really. Still curious about the plans of Vayavich," he answered.

"So am I, Borya," Evgeny said.

They did not have to wait long. Dmitri entered soon after and started to give orders.

"We will have a special night this night. Evgeny, Borya, you will join me and two special women to a special party. Igor, you will stay in here. Alec, you will the one to drive us, we will probably take the limo. Now all of you, freshen up, get redressed". Looking at his watch, he added: "we'll have to leave in 45 minutes from now".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

No matter what would happen, Chris still had the feeling she had to protect her friend. Dorien had a great time finding the right clothes for her and Chris.

"And you know what? I finally get the chance to dress you the way I wanted for a photo-shoot Chrissy. Told you, you have the right looks."

She sighed. "Dorien… Dmitri is not the nice person he appears to be. He is pure evil. He—"

"Don't care Chrissy. He just gives me the chance to see you in here, he has always been kind to me and he offers me a great opportunity to make perfect pictures this night. So stop whining and just enjoy, will you?"

There was no use changing her friend's thoughts, so she just kept quiet, took a dress and let Dorien do the things she wanted to do. Meanwhile, she tried to find out what the trap might be.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She looked astonishing, or perhaps even better than that, Deeks thought. Of course he would not utter it like that, knowing that Kensi would feel embarrassed and he would be probably be even more than that after her revenge, because revenge she would take.

"Fern, I would love to go out with you. Would you mind switching tasks for tonight, Jesper?" he asked instead.

"Ehm. Do I have to… I mean, Sam, he said, and Kolcheck," Jesper started to stammer.

Sam laughed. "Nope Marty. You and I will have time enough for a nice conversation, and Jesper, you look good. So do you Kensi," he said.

This time, Jesper would drive the Mercedes Callen used to drive and he and Kensi got on their way to pick up Kolcheck, while Sam and Deeks would be parked outside in the Challenger, waiting until either Kensi or Jesper would ask them to make any pictures, for back up or if any orders would come from Hetty.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He really felt refreshed after a long shower. He had removed all the bandages and was glad to see the wound was healing cleanly. He had found some smaller and clean dressing which he managed to put on and got dressed afterwards. Although Callen never really felt at ease being dressed like this, he knew it changed his personality for those who did not know him at all.  
Unfortunately, it did not work like that for Evgeny. He definitely did not feel at ease either, and everybody could see that.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Now we wait until the Vor shows up and he will tell us what to do next. Until then, we walk around in the casino," Evgeny said.

How surprising it was to meet Arkady Kolcheck, being accompanied by a great looking Kensi Blye. And a young man he'd never seen before.

"Arkady… How are you my friend" as he hugged his friend. "Nice to see you brought some new company." He smiled at his younger team mate and introduced himself with a smile. "Borya Gorjajev, nice to meet you."

Although it was hard for her not to show how glad she was to see her head agent save and sound right in front of her, she sent one of her flashing smiles back at him. "Mr. Gorjajev. I'm Miss Blye."

"And this is Jesper Barcuk. He is here so me and Miss Blye can teach him some new tricks", Arkady said.

At ops  
_Hetty Lange was glad to see her lead agent finally, looking tired yet healthy. It had worried her to not know how he was, except that he had been shot. Unfortunately there was no possibility to talk to him._

"Arkady, I believe you have met Evgeny before?" Callen continued, knowing of course they'd never seen each other before.

It was clear Evgeny was impressed by the good looks of Kensi too. "No, we have never met. Evgeny Kolznev."

At ops  
_Nell quickly checked the name in the system and carefully picked one of the pictures that came through Jespers small cams with it. It was the second of the Brigada's elite team they could trace this way. She sent all his data to the other agencies, joined with an arrest order._

Evgeny got nervous and impatient and kept looking at his watch. Then he looked around and said "Borya, the Vor is ready. We should leave."

Callen looked around.  
Next to Dmitri Vayavic he saw the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. Afraid yet calm. Chris Young.

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_**Thank you for reading and your reviews.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**It's great to read your comments. I hope you will enjoy this chapter too!**_

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**-15-**

Dressed in a sea blue gown, her curly, dark blonde hair in a loose tail, she looked astonishing. Her navy blue eyes looked bluer, the hair and make-up were done perfectly.

In Callen's eyes, she had everything he ever wished for. The looks, the strong character, the mystery.  
Yet, he knew there would be no future for them together. It would never last, he would always be afraid to hurt her as he had been ever so often scared to hurt people, or get hurt, and that is why he kept most people at a distance. It was simple, it was easier that way. It was, until now.  
There was an awful kind of envy seeing how Vayavich acted possessive, and it frustrated him not knowing why and why she would be afraid of Vayavich.

"So, Arkady, Miss Blye, Mr. Barcuk, I have to leave right now. It's been my pleasure. Maybe we'll meet again, soon," he said, not able to keep his eyes off of Chris.  
He'd been afraid she would be out of sight and that he had used her wellbeing to get closer to Dmitri Vayavich in vain. Nothing changed the fact that he used her - which felt completely wrong, and now he was so damn glad he saw her, right in front of him. Maybe there was a second chance.

Next to Chris Young, there was another woman, smaller, with short, very blonde hair, dressed in a grey gown. "Who is she, Evgeny," he wanted to know.

"It is her friend. And apparently, somebody who knows the Vor well too. She picked her up, she knows the plans for tonight. He trusts her, I think, better than Chris. I believe she is a photographer."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"The woman. That's—it is HER, isn't it? The 'Ангел Москве', the Moscow Angel," Arkady said.

"The Moscow Angel?" Kensi asked curiously. She hardly recognized the woman from the footage they had from the Dutch Consulate. At that time, she had looked far plainer than now. This woman was more like an actress, like a model.  
"She is called Christianne Young. There was something in her file. Something that happened in Moscow. One of our analysts read it."

"She was the one to stop him in Moscow. The one that killed his fiancée. The one who arrested Vayavich. In my country, she's legendary. The Vor, that guy, Dmitri, has been obsessed by this woman."

"He's protective, caring," Jesper observed. "Callen is, I mean."

Back in the car, Deeks chuckled at those words Jesper just spoke. "Callen and caring. That is… a 'contradictio in terminis'."

From where she was listening, Kensi was surprised at what her partner just said. "It is a—what?"

"Never mind my pumpkin, it is Latin. Don't want to bother you with it. Just meant that I have never seen Callen caring, so please let us remind to teach the green boy how to observe sharper than he just did. Caring, I mean…"

"Shut up Deeks. Jesper is right. I cannot remember I have seen Callen looking like this at a woman before. Which might be scary, in a way. He should stay focused on the case."

Arkady Kolcheck sat next to Kensi, quietly admiring the same woman as his old friend G. Callen was. He suddenly understood the game. "Vayavich will use her, like he was using his own fiancée years ago. He was about to let her blow up an important building filled with hostages. He'll use the 'Ангел Москве' for that right now".

"Let her blow up a building? Against her will?" Jesper asked. "Does she know?" Looking at the woman, he noticed the fear in her eyes. "Yes, she does, I can see that. But Callen, would he know?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Dorien, waar gaan we nu heen?" [Where will we be going to?] Chris asked her friend in their mother tongue on purpose. It would irritate the others but maybe she could figure out what would happen. Whatever it was, it would happen soon.

"Heeft hij je dat niet verteld?" [He did not tell you?]

"Stop talking girls," Dmitri said. He looked nearly friendly, but his eyes spoke a very different language.  
He was satisfied to have her finally within his reach, being able to make her suffer, knowing she knew her fate, but unknowing to where that would be. Oh, yes. This beautiful female, the one who made his life miserable, would be the one suffering now, he thought. He could sense she definitely felt miserable already.

Now, it was time for the real game.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was Alec who drove the stretched limo and parked it in front of the casino. Sam and Deeks had chosen a spot opposite the street from where Deeks was taking pictures of people entering or leaving the place.  
The rest of this party was about to enter the limo, when they noticed the Vor, Dmitri Vayavich, whispering something to the other man in the tuxedo, which they now knew was called Evgeny Kolznev.

Chris stepped backward as she was calculating if an escape was still possible. It was not, as she felt a firm and warm hand against her back. Strange enough the feeling nearly comforted her. She looked up and around and saw this Borya-blue-eyed-guy smile encouragingly at her.

_-It was the very same expression Deeks caught on a picture. Jesper had been right. Callen acted more protective than he'd ever seen before-_.

Vayavich turned toward the others.  
"Alec is driving the limo to the parking again. We will go there too and we'll take two cars; Borya, you will drive the black Mercedes, Alec takes the dark blue one. Evgeny and Doreen will join Alec. And you, my little angel, will be on the backseat with me," he said.

"I am not going anywhere if Dorien is not joining me," Chris reacted, rigidly at this point.

"Hey silly, I'm not going anywhere", smiled her friend. Dorien definitely did not experience any doubts or insecurity at all. Evgeny smiled at the small woman. "We will make a great couple too, like you and Borya".

Dorien giggled. "Like Dmitri and Chris, you mean. I'll be alright Crissy".

The five of them crossed the casino again, not unseen by Kensi and Jesper.

"What do we do now, Sam? Hetty?" Kensi asked as she got impatient. "They came back but walked pass us. They seem to go straight to the back door to the parking in there. And now?"

From Ops, they heard Eric speaking. "I've got traffic cams both ways, so we can follow any leaving cars for the first mile at least. Don't worry about that."

It was quiet for a minute. Then it was Sam who said: "Follow them anyway and let us know where they go."

"I know where they are going to".

"Jesper? Did you hear them say anything?"

"No. But seeing all of them dressed up like this, it must be for a very special occasion. There's only one grand party going on in town tonight that I know of: the Emmy Awards."

Arkady reacted calmly to this last remark: "If thát is the place they're going to, hell will break loose. It won't be a common bomb if Vayavich is trying anything in there. It must be something else. If it includes the rich and famous, it must be something that will look awful on screen, mark my words".

It was Hetty who urged them to hurry to the Nokia Theatre and do anything within their power to stop Chris Young from entering the building.

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Thank you for any remark, review or comment. It'll help to keep the story going. Any idea where it's going to? No? Luckily I do, so feel free to come back :-)


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks for your reviews so far! Hope this chapter won't disappoint you...

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**-16-**

Although Vayavich ordered him to follow the other car which Alec drove, the sudden change in route surprised Callen. "Borya, you take the next turn to the left and drive to the Nokia Theatre. We will take the main entrance, Evgeny and Dorien have the cheaper cards. Park the car and join us, will you?"

For the viewers who saw what they wanted to see, Dmitri Vayavich helped her out of the car, careful so that the lovely blue dress would not be damaged. For the trained eye, something else happened too.  
Callen noticed the small purse that was quickly yet adequately attached to the bracelet Chris was already wearing.  
She looked at it in terror and tried to tear it loose.

It was clear Vayavich enjoyed her fear, finally being the one in control. "Careful my angel. You don't want anything bad to happen, do you?"  
There was a long row of people waiting to get in, waiting until all the celebrities had arrived, until pictures were taken and until all very expensive entrance cards were carefully checked.

Now that there finally was a moment he was alone, Callen took out the prepaid phone and dialed the number he knew by heart.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Do anything to stop her? What does Hetty mean?" Jesper asked Kensi.

"It means what you think it means". Kensi said, as she was concentrated on driving as fast as she could from the casino to the place Hetty had sent them. There had been a briefing on their way with both Ops as with Sam and Deeks. It was decided that Jesper and Kensi would enter the Theatre from one of the side entrances and would work their way from the inside to the main entrance out, while Sam and Deeks tried to be there in time to stop Chris Young from entering the building.  
Hetty had arranged clearance for the team to do their job in the Theatre in a way only she seemed to be able to get.

"Does it include shooting too?"

"If necessary, yes." Kensi sincerely hoped it would not come this far. After all, they already knew the woman was not voluntarily working with Dmitri Vayavich.  
Her young companion was quiet for a while. "I never shot anybody. How—Can you deal with that?"

A quick glance at Jesper proved what she thought. He was nervous and probably even uncertain for what was to come. "It is… well, everybody deals with it in his or her own way. There is no way to prepare for it. And you know, if nasty things happen during a case, there is always somebody around to talk to."

She parked the car, looked at Jesper once more. "Never mind what you think. We need to get done what has to be done. Ready?"

He nodded and followed his partner for this night.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

His sickly sly grin let Chris know that Dmitri was assured of his plan to work out the way he wanted. His sweaty but cold hands against her back disgusted her immediately, it made her literally feel sick.

"Too bad this party will last so short, my angel, мой ангел. It would have been so great to use you in future. Like a Brigada Angely. Using an angel all the time. Now you are finally all mine, I dreamt about this for years".

"Keep dreaming, you—you creepy bastard."

"Now, calm down, love. We'll wait for the others and let the party start. This time I'm in charge and I am not going to let you ruin it again."

Chris had quietly observed the things he carried with him. There were the tickets they would need to enter. His mobile phone. Probably a gun. And something he held in his hands all the time.  
From a distance she saw one of his Brigada men coming closer.  
"If Evgeny is here, than where is Dorien?" The moment she said it, she knew she'd never see her friend again.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

They could quickly work their way through the audience to the main entrance.

"There!" Jesper pointed.

Kensi saw them too, close to the ticket control service, only three of the party. "Where's Callen? He should be joining them. Now there's the other guy with them!"

"And the other woman is missing. What is going on Kensi?"

Before she got the chance to answer, Kensi just observed speechless what happened.  
The moment Vayavich took some entrance cards from the inside pocket of his jacket, Kensi saw some very swift actions from Chris Young. With her left hand she forcefully pricked him in his right eye, and immediately after used her right hand for a quick targeting of his throat. An Expert Level action of Krav Maga, so far Kensi knew. Incredibly swift and perfect. He got down, severely bleeding from his eye, and dropped something that Chris Young tried to grab but what was accidentally kicked away in the panic around the man on the ground.

Once they could reach Dmitri Vayavich through the crowd that was now around him, Chris Young was nowhere to be seen.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Despite the fact it was an anonymous call, Sam put it on speaker and answered it. "Sam Hanna speaking."

"It's me Sam. Listen, I'm parking a car and am—"

"G! We know where you are. Stay there, we're—" Some sounds in the background and then there was another voice, female, now, at a further distance, but clearly to be heard.

"Drive, now."  
Some quiet seconds. Then, he and Deeks heard Callen again. "Where do you want to go?"

A short pause, and then a definite "That place in there."

They heard Callen say "The Dodger Stadium, Chris? Are you sure about that?"  
Deeks contacted Eric as inaudible as possible. Callen must have left his phone on, on purpose, but they did not know if their talking would be heard in Callen's car. "Eric, how far are we from Callen's car?"

"Nearly two miles. Sam needs to drive faster," the reaction from the Ops' tech came quickly. "The other car that left the Theatre is much closer to them".

"Kenz, how about you?"

"Far from driving yet Deeks. We're looking for something that Vayavich dropped and will have wait in here until LAPD or one of the other agencies Hetty contacted, will take Vayavich in custody. He will need medical care first".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"There are no matches in the Stadium right now, are there?" She nervously looked at the navigation system again and did not wait for his answer. "It's at least another ten minutes. Speed up," she said.

He just drove, accelerated as she had asked for, and was wondering how to get her to trust him.

She opened the glove compartment, looked for something sharp. There was nothing in there.

"What are you looking for?" Callen asked.

She answered in nearly flawless Russian, short and far from friendly: "не ваше дело" [none of your business].

"Where's Vayavich?" he wanted to know.

"Where's Dorien? What did you do to her?" She asked in return, trying not to show her despair.

"You can put the gun away, Chris", he tried.

"Shut up!" She yelled at him, wanted Borya to stop talking. She needed to think and plan. If Vayavich had put a bomb in this small purse, it was no conventional thing. The device he had dropped must have been a detonator. She did however have no clue if it could be used from a long distance. If Dmitri had wanted to use it, he would not have joined them in the Theatre because it would have meant suicide to him. Maybe Borya knew.

"What is in this purse?" She asked him directly. She had been good at the training and the job she once had and she would know if he lied to her.

"Dunno," was the brief answer.

"What did he tell you about this night and the place we went?"

Another "Dunno. No one told me," from him.  
He really had not paid any attention to the location, the only thing that he had been focused on was the persons he was with and how to get in touch with his team. In fact, Callen never cared about what was going on in his hometown, unless it had something to do with sports. Every now and then he heard Nell and Kensi talk about the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. He would not recognize any even if he was walking amongst them, that he knew. The Emmys was something that simply not interested him.

She sighed, knew he really did not know. She suddenly felt too tired to think clearly anymore and not knowing what to do next.

"Chris, you can put away the gun," he said. "It's not necessary. I'll drive you to the stadium anyway, trust me."  
She looked so scared and he really wished she would trust him.

"No," she said. "You tell me I can trust you, because you know I'm frightened and I need to trust somebody. No, I don't. I know how it is. I have seen it before. They call it the Stockholm Syndrome. I am not going to let you influence my thoughts, so just shut up."

"Listen, you are afraid something—".

"Shut up now!" she snapped. "Take the next turn to the stadium, stop the car and get out."

"No. I'm not leaving you, Chris, listen—" He wanted to explain. Preoccupied as he was talking to her, he never noticed the car following them. It was only after the gunshot that he noticed the other Mercedes close behind him.

"Crap. It's Evgeny," he said. "We need to get rid of him. Hold on tight!" He pressed the gas pedal further down, taking the Downtown Gate. There was no reaction from her this time. He quickly glanced to the passenger side, concerned by her quietness and pale face.  
"Alright?"

Dreaded by the shocked look in her eyes, he looked closer. The crimson spot on the beautiful gown grew bigger every second.  
"No, no, no… Chris. Look at me. Stay with me, just stay." She didn't speak, she just blinked her eyes, coughed and gasped for air. He needed to get rid of Evgeny. He needed the gun. He needed Sam. He needed her, he wanted her to know.

There were some more gunshots. "Sam, are you near, need your!" he yelled. "Need medics."

"You can do it Chris, stay. Help is on its way."

Evgeny had come closer with his car and shot twice. The aim had been different and were effective. Speeding the way he did right now, there was no way Callen could keep the car on track when one of the tires were hit by a bullet. He hit one of the entrance gates and could not control the car that started to roll over and finally crashed into a tree next to the road.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The man had taken his gun and was about to shoot through the window. They were in time to stop that, Deeks had clear sight and managed to bring him down with one single gunshot.  
Sam had left his Challenger maybe before he had stopped the engine. "G!" he yelled, hoping for any reaction.

A quick glance at the man next to the car proved that Deeks had killed the man.

Fearing what they would find, Sam and Deeks came closer. There was blood, far too much blood, on the woman. Deeks carefully checked, relieved he still felt an irregular heartbeat, but it was weak, so weak.  
As ever so often, Callen had not used the seatbelts and it was clear he had been thrown through the car. His face was a bloody mess from at least one nasty slash and Sam knew it would be impossible to get him out of the trapped position. "G." There was no reaction at all from his best friend, his partner.

Sam had one last look at his partner and then he said "Dammit Deeks. We can't safe them both".

Chris still vaguely heard the man say it. If she was still alive, the man who spoke must mean that he, Borya, died. He had been one of the good guys after all. She struggled to open her eyes once more, failed and then stopped fighting to stay in the light, not afraid to finally let the darkness take over.

* * *

[INXS || Beautiful Girl]

She's so scared  
So very frightened  
Anything could happen  
Right here tonight

Beautiful girl (stay with me)  
Beautiful girl (stay with me)  
She wants to go home

Stay with me (beautiful girl)  
Stay with me (beautiful girl)

* * *

_**Please, leave your reviews...**_


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you for your comments on the last chapter. Hope you will appreciate this one too!

* * *

**-17-**

"Don't think we can get Callen out of there, it looks like he's stuck. We'll have to wait for assistance".

"I need you here! Try to press her wound as tight as you can while I'll try to detonate this bomb." Sam took a set of small pincers and pliers from his jacket and quickly clipped the burse loose from Chris' bracelet.

"Sure you want to do this Sam?" Deeks asked, eager to back away from this site.

-'Sam, bomb squad will be there in 5 minutes' - He heard Eric speak, yet he continued to carefully inspect the small purse.

"Have to do so. What if Kensi and Jesper cannot find the detonator, what if somebody else finds it and will use it?" he stated. "Or what if it has not been shockproof completely?"

"Well, she was clever enough to take it here. I'm no Dodger fan." Deeks tried to joke his nerves away as he did so often. "Eric, where's the medics? Can't waste no more time. This woman must be out of blood soon and Callen… well".

-'A medical helicopter is on its way, an ambulance as well. Plus more assistance to come'-

From Ops they heard Hetty speaking. "Miss Blye and young Mr. Barcuk are on their way. They managed to get Vayavich in protected medical care. I heard it was a terrific job of Christianne Young" Hetty continued. "How is Miss Young doing?"

Instead of one of his swift reactions there was an unsure answer of Deeks, who saw and felt the condition of the woman getting worse by the minute. "Having my serious doubts Hetty..."

It was Kensi who asked "And Callen?" She kept her breath, not sure if she wanted to know, but still, she nééded to know. She had missed the senior agent so much during the last months and she had been so happy to see him alive when he sent her one of his boyish smiles earlier this night.

Deeks sighed "Looks like some serious injuries, really can't tell. We're at least some pairs of hands short here".

"Did you find a detonator?" Sam asked, focused on that part so he simply had no time to let his thoughts go any further.

"Nothing Sam. After the shock of a guest down on the floor, so many people panicked. Lucky Jesper could convince everyone he had an epileptic attack. The show went on…"

Then, in matter of minutes, they heard several sirens and a helicopter circling above the Gateway. Helping hands came from everywhere.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It took a lot of time to get Callen's motionless body from the mangled car, since they had to use hydraulic rescue equipment to cut through the frame of the car.  
An enormous gash on the left side of his head kept bleeding, the paramedics had carefully put on a neck collar. His knee and left hip seemed to be in a terrible state as well.  
The team had no other choice but to wait and see it all happen.

Meanwhile, the helicopter had quickly taken Chris Young to the nearest hospital as she was not responding to any stimuli at all.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The waiting was terrible.  
How many times had she been here, Hetty wondered, pacing down the corridors of the Cedars-Sinai, worried about if one of hers would live, and how.  
And again it was Callen, the lead agent of her best team. Callen, whom she had seen growing to one of the best of the best, from a miraculous lone wolf to a terrific team leader. Callen, who would do whatever lied in his power to do justice. Callen, who had been working undercover without being able to keep in daily touch with his friend and partner, or with her.

This time he had not been hit by any bullets, but his injuries were nasty in another way, that was all they had told her. She sighed.  
Sam would join her soon as he was driving his own car this time. He had just called her to ask if there was any news yet. He also informed her the bomb squad had deactivated a very small but lethal bomb that included Novichok, a nerve gas that would have shocked all of the world, watching people die an awful death, live on screen.  
Christianne Young had done a miraculous job, preventing this to happen, Hetty thought. She should remember to thank the young woman in person.

It took another ten minutes when Sam and Kensi came hurrying in.

"Any news yet Hetty?" Kensi asked worriedly. She had been so shocked to see the terrible state of the car at first and immediately after of how Callen had been carried out to the ambulance, a bleeding terrible mess.

"None yet, miss Blye."

"All that times I needed to tell him to use the seat belt," muttered Sam.

"Well, Mr. Hanna, you were right about that, but it won't help our boy now," Hetty said in a soft voice.

The three of them sat down, knowing that waiting always lasted long. There was one slight distraction from it, when Eric called to ask if there was any news and passing on that Deeks and Jesper had joined the LAPD team that had taken Vayavich in custody.

Nearly an hour after, it was Doctor Lee himself who joined them. "Miss Lange. Too bad to have to meet you again."

"Skip the sweet talk. How's my special agent doing?" she wanted to know.

"Somebody should teach agent Callen to better take care of himself. He will certainly be out of business for some time and I'm not sure how he will handle that. Now, about what my team needed to fix this time. The easiest thing was stitching, the deepest gash from jaw to neck, but also on his ankle, torso, hip. We counted: 289 in total. There is a fracture in the kneecap and it is slightly displaced. There is muscle damage and meniscus tearing as well. We put a brace around the knee to keep everything fixed. Next: a serious concussion with some skull fracture. An older gun wound that healed well. All in all, he has been very lucky to get out of it alive. He must have had a guardian angel around him, sure thing!" he concluded.

The last remark made Kensi shiver. Callen had been with Chris. With the Moscow Angel.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

His condition was far from good, but luckily not as bad as it had been in the past. There was nothing they could really do in the hospital, yet, they did not want to leave Callen all alone.  
Sam stayed, while Hetty and Kensi went back to Ops.

It was late that night when Sam had nearly fallen asleep in the chair next to Callen's bed, a position he had taken so often during their partnership, when the physician entered the room again, surprised to find him in there.

"Mister Hanna, you should be home with your own family. I never expected any of you in here anymore! I just made call to your office manager, telling her that the only way to provide your partner all the necessary rest will be in a prolonged induced coma. You and I both know what the side effects of pain killers and tranquilizers are to Callen, so this is the best option I can think of."

Sam smiled. To put it mildly, it was a disaster to be around his partner when he was on tranquilizers. The way Callen got his rest on tranquilizers was awful. He did not sleep, but got from nightmare to nightmare. In hospital, they had even needed to restrain him twice. An induced coma sounded, well - like rest, like sleep that the younger man needed so badly indeed.

"In that case, I might just as well go home. He won't notice if I am around and he won't wake up, will he?"

"He will be in good hands Mister Hanna", Lee said.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was true. While Callen was out, his body got the rest it needed.

His team however did not.  
LAPD called early next morning telling that after they had cleared the crime scene and towed both Callen's wrecked car and the one driven by Evgeny away, they had found the two dead bodies in the trunk of the last car. Since most of the case had been NCIS, Sam and Jesper were asked to come over for identification.  
Re-opening the car's trunk showed them the dead bodies of Alec Andronov and Dorien de Jong, both shot through their heads. It made Jesper throw up, sick by the sight.  
After exchanging some information, both corpses were to be taken over to the morgue and Sam and Jesper returned to the NCIS La Headquarters.

"It is like Arkady Kolcheck mentioned before: no way Andronov was leaving the Brigada alive," Sam said.

The four of them were back behind their desks, finishing the paperwork that was needed to close the case, when a very quiet Hetty Lange joined them. "When I ehm, when I just called with the Dutch consulate to inform them about the victim in the car they told me that Saint Vincent Medical Center wrote a death certificate for Christianne Young," she said with a deep sigh.

"She didn't make it?" Deeks asked, who had hoped he had been able to safe her life

Hetty shook her head. "They said her body is on its way to her home country."

All of them were quiet for a while. Most of the time, the good guys won, the good guys survived. It was at times like this the team realized that things not always worked out the way they wanted. They all had seen and followed what the woman had gone through and it felt wrong, so wrong to get this message.

Before anyone got the chance to express their feelings, there was one of the awful loud whistles of Eric, and reality was that there was more news from ops.

"About Vayavich. Medics allowed him to leave for jail. There will be one moment for us to interrogate once he arrives at the Los Angeles County Mens Central Jail. Now, who volunteers?"  
"It is not about going in as volunteers. Deeks, you and I should go," Sam said. "We're new to him, he's seen Kensi and Jesper already. It may give us something new".

However, there was no comment from Dmitri Vayavich. Nothing, except the remark "I won".

* * *

Please, do review!


	18. Chapter 18

Still going on, this story, though you might have another idea about it after reading this chapter...

* * *

**-18-**

It was not just the physical wounds that bothered and frustrated him. Callen simply could not stand the fact that his team were happy to have this case closed, to see their team leader back, recovering, going on like they always were. Case closed, next to come.

Besides the PT he had on a daily base and hopping around, using crutches, there was hardly anything to do but lying in a hospital bed, reading a bit, practicing his French and picking up Portuguese grammar.  
He kept mulling over what the hell had gone wrong. I made him act grumpy to the medical team and avoiding most of the conversations with his own team. No bratty remarks, no bantering with Sam and he certainly did not want to answer any questions as it came to his feelings, to what had happened in the car, though he knew his partner, Deeks, Eric and Hetty must have overheard everything that he and Chris said.

It was on one of the late afternoons during the third week he had spent hospitalized, when Hetty stepped in his hospital room.  
From the bag she carried, she took a thermos and two mugs which she filled with a special blend of hot tea. Carefully, she closed the thermos again, put it back in the bag and took one of the mugs from the bedside table.  
Then, she sat back in the chair and sipped her tea. She had not spoken a word, this being her tactics. The years of observing this man she had chosen to lead the best team on the west coast, had taught her that this was the best way to get him talking. All she had to do was wait until Callen was the one to start.

Although he did not want to, he knew he could not hold it back. After a while he said in a soft voice "How come I could not save her, Hetty? I wanted to tell her, I was telling her, but—"  
He rubbed his hands through his hair, but stopped when his fingers touched one of the nearly healed wounds.

"You feel guilty, Mr. Callen, and guilt is always a far too strong emotion. Now, let me tell you this. You needed to keep your head in the game, and you did well. In the meantime, I figure there was never enough time to gain the trust of this young woman. How long did it take you to trust your partner, to trust your team?"

"That's no fair comparison" he argued. "She could and should have listened to what I had to say."

"Oh but Mr. Callen, that may go for you as it comes to your team. But you of all people should be able to imagine how it feels when one points a gun at you or is forced to do something against ones will and then hears it is alright to trust. Of course you never wanted it that way, you wanted to keep her safe."

"If only I could do it over, I would know how to keep her safe. But it still feels so wrong, Hetty."

She looked at him, knowing all too well he was emotionally more hurt than she had ever seen him before. In a soft voice she said "If only-s never work, that I know. It is so much easier to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret." Then, as she saw he turned his face to the wall, avoiding her gaze, "Now, that sounds harsh to you, I understand. What I want you to learn is that there is your team - consider them as your family - who you can trust and can rely on. These are the people who have your back and care deeply about you and your welfare. Don't deny that, don't reject them, dear boy."

"I never did!"

"That is not how they feel about it. I heard the word 'standoffish'."

"Oh really. As if I chose to lay here, as if it was my choice to see—" He did not finish his sentence. He did not have to, she knew enough.

"Life goes on, Mr. Callen. Your case and theirs was the same, but it does not mean all experiences, all feelings, were the same too."  
He knew she was right, as ever. He needed to deal with his feelings first, before he could be the Callen as they knew him.

For a while he was quiet. Then he said "It's complicated. I should be discharged late this week Hetty. For the time being, there is still the brace I should wear, but no crutches. I… uhm, could you ask and arrange for me to take some weeks off?"

It surprised her. "That is the first time you ask for that Mr. Callen. And of course you can. There is no reason I need to discuss your request with director Vance or assistant director Granger. The team should be able to go on like they do right now for a while."

"Thank you. I really don't want to be on the side-lines and see how they handle their cases. A two weeks leave would do fine," he gratefully answered.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The fact that he was leaving his team for some weeks felt awkward, since the only times he and the team parted was during undercover operations or when he, or one of his team, were on medical leave. Even in summer, Callen worked when he felt like working. Sometimes it was most paper work, but he had been in the field to mentor probies too, and he even had worked with Gibbs' team once.  
Sure, Sam had been on holidays with his wife and kids, and the juniors of his team sometimes took some time off. But for Callen, it felt strange.

He did have a reason to go. Hé needed to be able to close this case as well. With a little help from Nell, he had managed to find the right spot. Callen never had the illusion that Hetty would miss his intentions, but she had not asked him directly, something he appreciated dearly of his tough and tiny office manager.

The small churchyard of the Dutch village Beugen did not look anything like the large cemetery in LA where his sister Amy was buried. Still, it had the same function. It did not take him that long to find the new gravestone with her name on it. Even between the family stones of Janssen, Verdijk, Jacobs and Van der Sluis, Christianne Young sounded nearly alien. Callen regretted the fact that he knew nothing at all about her at all. He had seen her and she had been around him for over one week, yet he admired her will, her strength, her beauty and her mystery. And yes, he deeply regretted there had never been anything and was never going to be anything, else than this last visit.  
"I'm so sorry Chris", he whispered. "See you, up there". He swallowed a few times. Then, he took the small, white baby roses and left them on her grave. He stood up, sighed and walked away.  
Looking forward again.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

In his rental car, he drove from the south of Holland to the capital of France. It had been a while since he'd last visited in Paris. Strolling around the city, he finally relaxed a bit. The 'joie de vivre' that this old European city offered, seemed to work for everyone, even for a usually rather paranoid agent as G. Callen was.  
He just sat back, enjoying the cafés au lait, a newspaper, the women that seemed to be attracted to him – the lonely stranger. Deep within, he had fun about that but at the same time he never really cared.  
Callen stayed in Paris for some days before he drove further south to Marseille, where he left his car and flew back home.

He quickly picked up daily routines again, though he was far from fit for long runs on the beach. Instead, there were sessions of physical therapy with a personal trainer. His ankle felt alright again, so did his hip. The muscles around the knee joint needed lots of attention and for the time being, he still would need a brace around his knee.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Although he started with some easy work from within the office, Callen was fit again for fieldwork a week after he returned at the office.  
Jesper gladly quit working with this team, admitting to the others that he never really liked working in the field. He would probably be better off with a job as an information analyst, so Hetty had contacted director Vance to find him another team. There had been a great farewell-party for the young agent, in which Callen did participate although he never had the chance to get to know the young agent.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Several cases and weeks had gone by. Hardly any shocking things happened, it was like they were used to. Some cases took days to close, some longer.  
The paperwork that came with each case always was the dullest part to deal with and most of it landed on his desk.  
It was on one of these days Hetty had left him with a copy of a letter of the Interpol, saying that an agreement on extradition between the US and the Netherlands was made and Dmitri Vayavich was being transferred to Europe.

"Crap. I would have loved to see him stay in a US-prison. How did it go, his arrest?" Callen wanted to know, as Vayavich had been imprisoned long before Callen had been released from hospital.

"It was easy for us. Just a pick up and handing over, though he refused to talk from the beginning" Kensi said.

"Would you believe me that after Deeks and I came back from interrogation all we got was a 'I won'?" Sam answered.

"Besides those two words, there was nothing more, no lawyer, no confession… It was based on pictures, the phone records from your car and the confession of the Brigada-member left in the casino only that he was convicted," Kensi added.

"Have you seen what your pretty woman did to him Callen?" Deeks asked.

Callen glared at him in a way that made Deeks realize he had to avoid any remarks about Chris. He unlocked his laptop, sought his way through several programs and then turned his laptop towards Callen. The pictures Deeks had taken that night from Sam's car and all others that had been used as prove, were shown as a slideshow.

Seeing his partner struggle with mixed emotions, Sam said "Let's go out for lunch guys!" Deeks and Kensi agreed enthusiastically.

"Need to finish paperwork," Callen grumbled. "Bring me a chicken sandwich, will ya?"

"Sure you won't join, G.?" Sam asked, knowing his partner would refuse.

"Nope. Duty calls, pal," he managed to say, grateful that the three of them finally left and he was left alone with the pictures. Even now he found it very hard to see how Chris nearly abandoned hope, but had not broken all the way.  
"That's my girl" he murmured, seeing how Vayavich had been floored and in which state the man had been once he was arrested.  
Callen stopped the slideshow once he saw the picture his teammates must have seen before and which left him mesmerized by what he saw. The one on which he showed her an encouraging smile that should have said 'trust me' and the way she looked back at him. .

"It is not the glamour that surprised me, Mr. Callen. It is the way you look at her."

Of course, his team was not around but how could he have forgotten Hetty. He sighed. "Don't go there, Hetty".

"One day I'll retire, Mr. Callen and when I do, I don't want to think about you, alone. It suits you well, the caring, protective attitude towards this young woman I see in there"

"That'll do", he snapped as he closed the laptop, stood up and walked away from her.

She shook her head. She had seen the anger, the trust-issues, the hard-shell, the lone wolf-thing, the bullheadedness of her head agent. She thought she had seen it all, all but this raw emotion she had seen on his face when he had looked at that one picture.  
"Oh goodie…"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

On the great imitation of a magpie, the four of them looked up. Eric looked down on them. "New sound, new case guys!"

It was Nell who explained about the dead arms dealer, Rachmed Santoso, who was found dead in Griffith Park. "He might be related to the Taliban, which should worry us as we picked up chatter that they plan an attack on American soil".

"Meanwhile", Eric continued, "we have a dead Marine in Idaho. Same modus operandus, same murder weapon."

"Now what I want you to do…" Hetty explained that Kensi and Deeks were going to investigate the Los Angeles murder and that Callen and Sam would be assisting the Red Team on the Idaho case.  
Much to their surprise, they were also teamed up with Granger, who was eager to find out all he could on this case. Sharing their thoughts and conclusions, they decided to go back to the place where dead corporal Tyler lost his cell phone. While Danny was using a metal detector to try and find that phone, Paris Summerskill stood next to him.

Not exactly knowing what to say, Callen said "It is an unusual name, Paris"

She gave him a smile. "That coming from a man whose first name is a letter!"

"Paris is a beautiful city," Callen continued with a smirk.

"Yeah, and very romantic", was her quick response. He shot her a glance. Experienced as he was, he knew when somebody was flirting and right now, she definitely was.  
But before he got the chance to think all this over, Danny found the phone and soon after, the snow plough hit their car, leaving Danny hurt.

Frustrated that there still was no lead and irritated his knee started hurting again after been hit like this, he was glad they got back to the Red truck.  
The soup should have warmed him, but still Callen was chilled to the bone when he and Sam finally entered the small sleeping compartment. He quickly took the lowest bed, put his stuff in there and was glad he could lay down.

"How about her, G? Good looking, huh!?" Sam smiled as he sat next to his partner.

Before he could answer, he was saved by Owen Granger who opened the door, stating "Cozy".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Altogether, the case quickly developed. Traveling from Idaho back to Los Angeles they nearly caught the main suspect, but unfortunately he escaped. Three of the other suspects were shot, but they managed to get one into custody.  
It took some time to figure out that both teams were wrong all the time. It wasn't their main suspect, Spears that was doing the killing, but the assassin that was hired to kill him. Once they found out, the case ended when Callen went after Spears and, after a fight, got Spears killed. Paris was nearly killed by the real assassin, a woman who marked all her bullets with lipstick. She was saved by Roy, her teammate.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He was no fool.  
Callen knew that Eric, Nell and Deeks, and probably Paris's partner Claire, had been thinking of it. Kensi, romantic as she was deep inside, and Sam, wanting his partner to be happy, maybe had been hoping. And he seriously suspected Hetty to have arranged this pairing up with team Red on purpose…

Callen had done the same: thinking, maybe hoping, if things would have worked out between him and Paris.  
In the end, he did not regret the fact that her team had another case and there had been a quick goodbye. Yes, Paris was a beautiful city, and indeed, Paris was a pretty woman. But being pretty and a capable team leader: it wasn't enough for him.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Paperwork again, but because it was Friday afternoon, the team decided to go out to have a drink afterwards. The girls, Kensi and Nell, usually went to Kensi's place on a Friday night to watch a movie. Sometimes, Deeks and Eric joined them. Callen usually refused, while Sam mostly went home to be with his family.

"Going with us boys?"

"How about it, partner?" Sam looked at Callen. "I'll go if you go and you know, you could socialize for once, G," he said.

"You know I socialize all day, working with you."

"You can chose whatever movie if you come with us, Callen", Kensi said. She really would like to see him relax. In her opinion, it had been months ago she had seen him smiling.

"Really?"

"Oh boy, you don't know Kensi's stuff, do you?" Deeks said. "The girl is poorly romantic and IF you find a place on her couch, between jeans and pizza boxes, believe me, it's better than a cinema!"

"And I get to choose?" He raised his eyebrows, suddenly eager to join them.

"Definitely!"

He gave Kensi a boyish grin. "Deal. My choice? 'Forget Paris'.

* * *

**I'd be really grateful if you let me know how you liked this chapter! Thank you for reading =)**


	19. Chapter 19

True, you might recognize **the first part** of this chapter, since part of it was published before as a one-shot. Did that on purpose since it fits in so well with the rest of this storyline ;-)

_Read & See_

* * *

**-19-**

He had not expected this. Had Sam been right? Had he taken too many risks lately? No, he thought. He had not been careless, not now. This was a matter of bad luck.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was true, the team had been running out of time. But they had made a risk analysis and all of them, including Sam ánd Hetty, had agreed on this plan. The only thing nobody liked was the fact that the two of them would have to split up to make it work.

As ever, Callen was able to quickly work his way into files and backgrounds and with the help of Nell and Eric, he managed to scroll through all the ideas of 'Designing a New America'. His cover was not to be blown, he was confident about it and so were the rest of the team.

From a short distance, Hetty observed the team leader. He would make a great actor, she thought. She softly chuckled: he had the looks, but was completely unaware of that. No, his talent went deeper: he did not play a role, he was able to let anybody believe that he was who he said he was. In the field work, he was a legend that was seen but always stayed unknown.

Although Hetty Lange thought she knew all there was to know and understand about G. Callen, he remained a mystery.  
He had barely survived a car crash and only lately, he had been cleared for field work again. Physically he should be alright. Emotionally however, it was clear that he was still struggling with what happened. It worried her and she wished Nate was around for advice.

Callen was unaware of the thoughts of the tiny little office manager. Determined as he was to prevent large parts of the City of Angels from being poisoned by cyanide, special agent G. Callen would disappear and Gary would be mixing in a small demonstration, making his point clear and trying to gain trust of the leaders of the DNA.  
Once he was ready for his next move, he left the ops, asking Eric to get Sam on the phone.

"Mr. Callen, a word please?"

"Hetty, please, not now. We have to work fast to get this done."

"Oh, don't expect any long speeches dear boy. I just want you to take care. And just in case, take this with you". She handed him a syringe. "It's an antidote against cyanide poisoning, called Hydroxocobalamin".

"Come on Hetty. You know I don't do needles. Besides, where should I hide this giant syringe? "

Hetty smiled mildly. "I gather you never made a real study of your jacket Mr. Callen. Now sit down and I tell you."

"Hetty, please. Sam will be here in a minute and we have to hurry now". His pleading did not help. Hetty showed him how the board of his leather jacket had a small but unnoticed extra compartment. She carefully clipped in the syringe.  
"Of course I reckon you will not need it. But one can never be careless, can we, Mr. Callen?"

"As if I ever am", he muttered. "Sam will have my back, won't he?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The whole operation went smoothly in fact. All would have worked out fine if he had not ran into Dominic Fryman. Fryman, who immediately recognized him from earlier that day when Sam and Callen paid him a visit to find out more about the death of his former colleagues. At that point, there had been no reason to suspect him of any crimes.  
How wrong had they been? It had been Fryman all the time and now that he had been made, Callen knew there was no quick escape.

He watched in disgust how Fryman mixed the powder with a glass of water.

"It's agree to disagree, special agent Callen". It sounded nearly kind when Fryman held the glass in front of him, offering him to drink it.  
As if there was any choice. Although Callen never feared getting killed in action, he had no death-wish and the choice between a bullet and the poison was less difficult than he thought.  
He accepted the glass and quickly emptied it.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

They pushed him inside a small stockroom and locked the door. In matter of seconds his vision blurred and he got nauseous. He got up to get the syringe from his jacket, but immediately fell down again as his world started spinning.  
Callen realized he needed to stay calm and keep his breathing in control. Nobody warned him that the cyanide would work this devastating fast. His fingers felt like rubber when he tried to clip loose the compartment in the board of his jacket.  
He finally managed and without any hesitations, he injected the antidote exactly as Hetty had explained, slowly. Before he could finish, dizziness took over and his mind and body stopped working together. G. Callen was out, completely out.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Oh, she should have been sharper, Hetty thought. Why had she taken the time to explain about the antidote but forgot to provide him with one of the button-camera's? She had shooed the team out to find him. The GPS of his cell phone was easy to locate and his team should find him quickly enough so they could plan something new.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The small cantina was empty, except from some glasses and used cups. -'Clear'- Sam heard his team mates from the warehouse.  
Another door, nobody around. Quietly, he moved through the office. Another door. Seeing this one was locked, Sam approached it, more concerned than before about what he would find. His gun at the ready, he kicked in the door.

"G!" Sam was relieved to see his partner, laying on the ground, leaning on a metal shelf. Next to his partner was a syringe.  
Weaker than usual, Callen tried with a "What the hell took you so long?"

He knew his partner so well and he could see that Callen still wanted to be in control, not to show his weakness, but failed completely.  
Sam sent him a smile. "You used the Hydroxyo- C."

"Worked like a charm." Callen said, still trying to sound upbeat. He felt terrible, definitely worse than during the first few minutes befóre he took the antidote.

"You ready to go now", Sam asked, worried about his clearly very sick partner.

"Sam? I—" Callen wanted to tell something was wrong, but before he could, he was out. All color had left his face and his breathing was uneven.

-"Kensi, Deeks, found him!"-

Sam started yelling. "G. C'mon man, you should be alright." There was no reaction from his younger team leader.

-"Eric, we need medics in here!"-

Sam turned his partner a bit upright and to his left side, noticing the soft moans and the still uncontrollable urge to vomit.

Their junior partners entered the small room. "Callen!" Kensi exclaimed, not expecting to see the team leader like this.

"He knew how to use the antidote, didn't he?" Deeks asked.

Kensi took the syringe and looked at it. "Dzjeesz…" In a swift way she plunged the needle in Callen's upper arm. "He injected only half of it."  
Hoping all had been in time, they were happy to hear the ambulance to arrive.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

First there was a soft buzzing from a distance but slowly Callen could distinguish their voices. They were discussing the case and he wanted to take part in it. He opened his eyes, grateful he controlled his own body again.

The big fellow's unbelief in the sentence "What's that? You're telling me G should've had a double dose of the Hydroxy-stuff?"

"No way. How the hell did he survive? How comes Callen always ends up looking like some kind of Superman?" Deeks asked, more or less to himself.

The snorts of Kensi "Always thought he looked like that boy in Batman."

"Don't mock me Kensi" he managed to say.

"Callen! You're back with us!" She sent a grateful smile at him.

"He should. Crap, Callen, you're a living example of waking the dead," Deeks chattered. "Be happy you were not around when they plunged all those needles into your body".

Callen managed to get upright. "What are you guys still doing here? We should stop Fryman".

"Sure you feel okay partner?" Sam asked.

"Ready as ever," he said, sounding convincing and not looking his partner in the eyes. They did not need to know how he felt. The only thing that counted was to get back to the OSP.

Sure, he could fool Kensi and Deeks, Sam thought. But not him. G. Callen was far from okay, but too stubborn to stay hospitalized.

"You two, go! We'll follow as soon as Callen has checked out," Sam ordered Kensi and Deeks.

"Thanks Sam," he said once the others had left, knowing he did not have to pretend anymore.

"Sure you're up to this, G?" Sam asked.

"Nearly. I think I'll be ready once we're back at the office". He made it to the car, only with the support of the strong arms of Sam Hanna. The uncomfortable feeling that he did not really control his limbs, the nausea and headache did not leave however.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Not welcoming the new dizziness, Callen flopped down on the couch, closing his eyes. He just needed a while to adjust, that would be all, he thought.

"Ah, Mr. Callen. There you are. Your team awaits you."

"Hetty, please," he croaked, opening his eyes again.

"If you're not up to it, dear boy, than stay and lead the case from ops. In this line of work we can't afford to make any mistakes. Believe me, I want you and your team back in one piece". She needed him to feel confident again and this was her way to push him the right way.

"I'll be there, and make it back in one piece Hetty. And be sure, I'll guide the others through too," he said as he hoisted himself up to join the others in the armory.

-That's my boy. Even on half power he'll make it- Hetty figured G. Callen, team leader, was really the best she ever saw. If only he were less stubborn, vulnerable and stand-offish. He needed to know that she, ánd the team, needed him.

Despite the fact he was still feeling off and weak, Callen had been able to lead the team to the point where 'Kaleidoscope' finally discovered the trucks at an access point to underground utilities. Luckily, they had been in time to stop both Fryman as his young son Alex from releasing the poison into the water supply systems of LA.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Do we have a definite 'case-close-status?" Callen wanted to know when they were debriefing the case in the late afternoon, the day after. He still had the itchy feeling that they missed something.

"We've got the device from the underground pipes, the pump that Kensi and Deeks found and all three missing barrels of cyanide were retrieved", Nell recited.

"Four," Sam corrected.

"No, three were found" Nell said.

"Four missing Nell, definitive," Callen confirmed. "Now, where is the last one?"

The doors opened and Hetty entered ops. "Well, Mr. Callen. This should not bother you at this moment, your team is there to find out. Remember you were to report for blood checks? Half an hour ago!"

"We're busy working, Hetty!"

"That is what they do at hospitals too, Mr. Callen. And if you want to continue to work, you'd better be in for that checkup." How come he always surprised her with the bullheadedness, giving priority to the wellbeing of others instead of his own health? "I noticed you're still suffering from headaches. Now, go!"

"I'll drive you, G", Sam said. That way, he was sure his partner was really going for the blood tests and on their way, they might discuss and conclude so they could work on.

The trip to the hospital was a short one. He hated needles and he was relieved that the extra medicine he still needed, came in pills with high B12 levels.

He'd been awfully quiet, Sam thought. A quick look to his right showed that Callen had his eyes closed, probably suffering from headaches indeed. "G, you feel okay?" he asked.

"I'm good. Was thinking, maybe the boy knows more?"

"The boy? Y'think so?"

"Shared everything with his dad. He might have picked up something. Names, contacts, papers. Let's hear what he knows."

"You're up to that?" Sam asked, concerned for his partner.

Callen raised his eyebrow, giving him the 'you should know better than that' glare. "87, Scribner Lane," was all he said.

Not showing Sam, nor Alex, how the headaches still bothered him, he managed to play catch with the boy.

"Slept well?" he asked. It was good to hear the positive answer. "If the first night is okay, you know it's a good place Alex," he convinced the boy. "Believe me, I know." Callen paused for a while, throwing and catching the ball. "Should we inform anybody else that you're staying here? Friends, teachers, your dad's friends?"

"I'll start at a new school next week. They've informed school. Dad had no friends, just people he worked with. You know his team from the time he served. All of them are still enlisted, in the same team. They didn't like each other. Except for Tommy. But he switched."

"Tommy?"

"Myers. He and dad quit at the same time. Tommy switched to an aircraft carrier".

"So he did".

"Dad called him this week".

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He was thirsty, decided that he hated the Los Angeles sun right now and he wanted and Sam to hurry back to the headquarters of the NCIS Office of Special Projects. Callen desperately needed to take some pain killers and stretch out on the coach. Just for a while. Let the analysts do their job, and he'd be alright soon.

"Hey." Kensi's voice. He probably did sleep for a while. "Eric found Myers. Interested?" What she meant was if he was feeling well enough to be with the team.

"Sure, after some coffee," he said. For once, he added lots of milk so it would cool down and he'd be sooner in ops with the others. He was glad he felt so much better after the catnap. He quickly finished his coffee and hurried up the stairs.

"Right, what have we got Eric?"

To his surprise, it was Hetty who answered. "What we have, Mr. Callen, is another barrel of cyanide which was found. However, there is a large amount of it missing. Next to the barrel, medical equipment was found. Sent to the USS Frank Cable."

"Which is … going where?"  
Eric quickly answered. "The USS Frank Cable belongs to the Seventh Fleet. On its way somewhere in the Pacific to its homeport, Apra Harbor, Guam."

As ever, Nell completed "And Apra Harbor is where Tommy Myers works, as a mechanic on the submarines".

"Which is, Mr. Callen, I am going to send you and Mr. Hanna, to Guam. Your NCIS colleague Larry Clarke, will contact you once you arrive. What we expect from you is to retrieve all the cyanide and find out what Myers planned to do with it."

"Guam?"

"Guam, Mr. Callen. No undercover operation. Now, hurry. Arrangements have been made, your flight to Hawaii won't wait. From Hawaii there will be a connecting flight to Guam."

* * *

_**A shout-out to all readers: please let me know if there's anything I should do to keep you reading! **_


	20. Chapter 20

A shorter chapter, but hope you like it anyway ;-)

* * *

**-20-**

* * *

"She's worried, don't you think?" Sam asked his partner.

"Uh-huh" was the brief reaction.

"She just could have contacted Clarke and ask him to do what needs to be done. Eric could send pictures, the parcel sent to Myers could be intercepted and Myers could be asked for interrogation and that could be it, be all."

Another "Uh-huh".

"Y'think there's more going on, G?"

Callen opened his eyes. As ever, he easily dozed off in planes and he'd loved to catch some sleep right now. "Hetty would not send us over if she was not concerned about what goes on. Perhaps there's more than we know right now. She'll let us know if she knows, that I know".

Sam looked at his younger partner. How come Callen never seemed to doubt Hetty's unspoken decisions? It surprised him, time after time, that Callen, with all his trust issues, never-ever had those when it came to Hetty, that was, IF it considered work-related things. Things were different when personal issues were involved and both Hetty and Callen could be stubbornly keeping things to themselves.  
Sam had learned to observe, learned when to ask or when to act when it came to G. Callen and personal life. He knew that his partner tended to trust him nowadays, although there were still times when Callen built walls incredibly thick, far too thick to break through.

He let out a loud breath. "Right. Well, Guam is a good place to visit."

"Uh-huh."

Another long breathe out. Clearly, Callen wanted to sleep. Sam took a magazine and started to read.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

They arrived late that night at the civil airport. A young female officer, the only one around, observed all arriving passengers and was obviously glad she recognized the men from a description she'd been given. "Agent Hanna, agent Callen? I'm Lauren Skyler, here to pick you up. Agent Clarke could not make it tonight, it's his baby boy's first birthday. Follow me please," she said.

Without any further announcements, she turned around. Sam smiled at his partner and said unheard to their attendant "Don't you just like it when you don't have to think for yourself? Just follow, easy going"

Callen shot him a bad boy grin and said "I'll keep my thoughts about that to myself, big guy. Great views, by the way."

"Do you like what you see, agent Callen?" Lauren Skyler asked.

Sam could hardly keep his laughter to himself as he saw Callen blush. "Yeah, I do. Never been to Guam before, had not expected all this bush-bush".

"Oh, I'll gladly show you around the island. There are great beaches too."

It was always like that, women liked G Callen, were attracted to him and although Callen enjoyed a flirtation every now and then, Sam knew G hardly ever went further than that, especially during professional relations. It was hard to discover the real Callen behind the easy going façade. Callen did not show his real feelings and rarely trusted strangers, kept people at an emotional distance. But perhaps it was exactly that which surrounded him with a certain touch of mystery that attracted women even more.

"Doubt it if there's any time for that, Petty Officer Skyler," Callen answered.

Now it was her time to blush, feeling nearly sorry she had suggested anything to this good looking guy with his ocean blue eyes.

"Right", she said, "I'll drop you off at the Marianas Navy Gateway Inns & Suites. Your boss has arranged two rooms in there for you".  
She stopped at the hotel near the naval base, they took their bags, thanked her and checked in. The next thing they did was checking if there was any new intel had been sent over by Eric. Since there wasn't, Callen went to find something eatable and came back with two muffins and some hot coffee, only to find Sam fast asleep.

Next morning, they had their first meeting with Clarke, whose small office was at the base itself.

Sam took the chair opposite of Clarke's desk, while Callen used one of the walls to lean against to.

"How much do you know about Myers?" Sam asked Clarke.

"So far, there's nothing suspicious about the guy. Works as a mechanic, he's pretty good at it. Married, no kids. Lives in one of the appartments near GabGab."

"Which is… where?" Callen asked, looking at a large map that Clarke had in his office. The tall officer, who looked in fact more like a school teacher than as a trained agent, stood up and pointed at the base map, just a little up to the north of Apra Harbor. "It's in there".

"And you've talked to Myers already?" Sam wanted to know.

"Gosh no. Did not see any reason to do so. As I said, there's nothing in his files. Nothing at all!"

"What do you think, G?"

"The boy mentioned Myers. I'd like to know what Fryman and Myers talked about, so why not just visit him?" Callen said. Then he asked Clarke "Will he be at the base right now?"

The tall man nodded. "We could visit him. Come with me".

Sam looked at Callen, smiled and said "Sure. We'll follow'.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was as Clarke told. There was really nothing abnormal in Myers daily rhythm or life. And yes, Myers had received a call from Fryman, asking for his address at Guam.

"He didn't tell why. He just wanted the address. When I asked how he and his boy were, his answer was vague and brief. He avoided a longer discussion and hung up before I could really think of why he called. Have you spoken to him?"

"We did, Sir. We did. Sorry to say that he won't be able to visit you. He's ehm, he died some days ago and we heard he called you".

"And you came all the way from Los Angeles to tell me?" Myers squeezed his eyes. "Sounds odd. Really, it does".

Sam answered "I understand. It does. But we needed to check. Fryman sent you a parcel, you see."

"A parcel? Well, I haven't received any mail –ever- from the guy. I mean, we did feel the same about our team, but Fryman, well, he never got along with others, so it seemed. We weren't friends, just old mates, you know."

"Right. Well, thanks for talking to us", Clarke answered. "If there's any information you want to share, you may contact me, or one of these agents. They'll be staying in here for…"

"For as long as needed", Callen concluded.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

All that Myers had said seemed to be right, sounded justified.

"We still don't know why Fryman really contacted him" Callen concluded. After contacting the NCIS office to discuss this outcome, Hetty had told them to stay on Guam until the parcel was retrieved, which was going to be sooner or later, since the USS Frank Cable was to arrive at Guam within two days.

"Now what". Sam nearly sounded bored. "Any suggestions?"

Clarke laughed. "Most people I know would love to have a relaxed day at the island. Enjoy the beaches, a long hike, whatever. My assistant officer Skyler would like to show you around."

"Thanks but no, thanks, we'll find something to do," Callen answered.

"Let's have dinner than, this night, her and me and both of you. I'd appreciate that. Treat's on us."

"Sounds good" Sam said, not looking if his partner would agree upon that.

"Find a cab and ask for Ruby Tuesday's. Great food, you'll like it. How about seven thirty?"

"We'll be there," Sam assured.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

For the rest of the day, they really did try to relax, which never happened when they were on a mission in their own city. After lunch, they did some shopping for Sam's kids and since they did not bring any swimsuits, they both bought a new one and headed for the beach, catching some sunshine, combining this with some cooling down in the ocean.

Dinner at Ruby Tuesday's was good indeed. Even though they discussed the case and other work related things, the atmosphere was okay.

Around 9 PM, Sam's phone rang. He answered with a smile, seeing who called. "Susie! Should you not be sleeping by now?" Since the chattering inside was loud, he excused himself and walked out, talking to his daughter.

It was busy on the streets and sidewalks too, crowded with people going for a night out, lots of them uniformed. The loud roar of a motorcycle and the shouting of a group of men around it, caught his attention.

-'Stasya, whished you'd sit on my lap and ride me like you ride that bike!'-

The calm voice of a woman saying that she wanted to pass them. More exaggerated shouting.  
- 'Let me join you, the bike is far too large for a girl like you'-.

- 'Why don't you come with us, Stasya. C'mon, be a good girl –' another guy begged.

"Do not touch me", her deadly serious voice sounded.

- 'I want to, please'- Cheering hissing from the others.

To Sam, it sounded harassing. He ended the phonecall – 'Daddy calls you back in a sec, love" and decided to interfere.

"To me it sounds as if the lady wants to leave without trouble." Knowing that his posture might frighten some smaller guys, he straightened his shoulders even more.

"We're just leaving Sir," one of the sailors answered. "Stasya, when will we see you again?"

"Not. Never, bunch of bastards," she answered.

Mad hissing sounds, but they left and that was all that counted.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The woman looked at him, brushed some auburn curls from her forehead and sent him a grateful smile. "Yes, now I am, thank you. Hope you don't mind that I leave right now?"

Even after she'd left, Sam stood on the sidewalk, thunderstruck. It was not until Callen came out of the restaurant that he shook his head. "Hey buddy, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

He blinked his eyes and slowly breathed out. "I'm good. Need to call home again. The connection was interrupted," he answered, not looking his partner in the eyes.

"Right. Tell Susie uncle G wishes her nighty-night too," Callen said and went back inside.

That was when Sam made his first call. "Eric, Sam here. Let your systems run air force personnel on Guam on a female officer, first name Stasya. Inform me if you find something, be sure not to tell Callen—"

"Mister Hanna? I overheard this request. Any reason why we do not want to inform Mr. Callen?"

"You will see if Eric's system finds the person", was all he said.

* * *

**A/N**

- Hope you liked this chapter, I'd be happy if you leave me a review!

- Because I'll be stuck in a remote location for the next ? days, you'll have to wait for any new updates...


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:  
****_It is said that G. Callen is fictional! Nêh… Still, I'm so glad he wanted to play along, though he usually lives in the place created by Shane Brennan, and belonging to CBS. Just like to have fun in here!_**

* * *

**-21-**

"Sam? How do I spell Stasya?" Eric asked. Before Sam had the chance to answer, he heard Hetty say "S.T.A.S.Y.A. That is, if one uses the proper Russian spelling. Which makes me wonder about this name. If it is Russian, the name has a meaning."

"Which is?" Sam got impatient, knowing that both Susie as Callen were waiting for him.

"Resurrection, Mr. Hanna. Which makes me wonder…"

"Indeed, Hetty. Hope you get it why I don't want G to hear anything until we know for sure."

"Oh, but I understand, Mr. Hanna, I understand. Now, I will pull a few strings in other places as well, and I will let you know. Meanwhile, Mr. Beale will do his utmost, I will take care of that. Now, call your little girl and wish her goodnight."

On that, she hang up, which left Sam flabbergasted again. How could she know he was about to call Susie?

He re-entered the restaurant after a short goodnight phone call and was glad to see the other three of the party in a pretty good mood. The only thing Sam wished was that he was just a good actor as G. Callen was. He knew he wasn't, since he immediately noticed that Callen could see right through his far too enthusiastic smile.

"Is the girl doing okay, Sam?"

He managed to smile in one way or another. "Oh, G. She is, yes, she is."  
If his partner and best friend knew who he meant, Sam knew Callen's world would look very different. Upside down, perhaps.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

By early next day, there were no messages yet from Hetty or Eric at his phone.

"We might check Myers' house. After all, he's married. Maybe his wife knows more about Fryman, maybe it is her we should watch," Callen suggested.

Sam really seemed to be in a bad mood, Callen thought. He did not know why, but something changed.

"Wonna be home, leave here?" he asked.

"No, that's not it G. It's just... I don't know. Working here is odd, I wished we'd know more about why Fryman contacted Myers and why Hetty persists on us staying", he sighed.

Callen had thought about that too. It was so not-Hetty to not explaining, still, he had learned that she never did things without a thorough plan, and although she did not discuss any plan, it existed, he knew. "Let's see if Myers wife knows more", he said. They took a cab, again, and went there after the time Myers himself should be at work.

"We married after Tommy left the Norfolk team. He actually hardly talks about it. Did not keep in touch with the rest," Liz Myers told them.

"But he had no bad feelings about them?" Callen wanted to know.

"None, as far as I know. Guess Tommy never enjoyed that work. He likes what he does right now, more the technical guy. And living here is great!" she stated. "He's got more friends than ever."

"Have you ever heard the name Fryman?" Sam asked.

She was thinking. "Could be he mentioned a call from somebody with that name? Was it Fryman? A guy called and talked a bit nonsense to Tommy, in the end asked for our address. Strange, huh, what do you think?"

"Strange indeed. Now, if any parcels would arrive, would you please not open any but warn agent Clarke at the naval services?" Callen suggested. "We don't know if anything comes, but if so, it might be nasty materials that's dangerous to human beings and environment, you see."

She promised and on that, they left.

"Now what?" Sam asked his partner.

"Dunno," Callen answered. "Think I'm going for a run on the beach." He used to do that a lot, but his troubled lunges had kept him from running the long distances he was used to. "Want to join?"

"It's about the best we could do. That, and wait, and eat out."

"Just imagine how jealous the kids at headquarters will be Sam. Now this is a reason to see the glass half full!" Callen chuckled. "Getting home relaxed, suntanned and case solved."

Sam tried his most optimistic smile, knowing Hetty and Eric and perhaps the other team members too, were working behind the scenes, keeping their head agent out of this one. "Sure, told you Guam is a great place to stay G. Much better than a desk job at the NCIS Office of Special Projects indeed. Let's grab some running shoes and clothes than."

Informing at the hotel where the best beaches would be, they rented a small jeep and took off to Haputo Beach, a quiet and remote beach.  
They started to run together, but after a while Sam noticed his partner was getting tired.

"It's all right", Callen said. "Go ahead, I'll walk the last part—" when Sam's phone interrupted his last remark.

"Mister Hanna? Can we discuss anything freely right now?"

"Michelle! — No, it's a bad connection in here. G and I am at a remote location — Sure. — Call you in... Half an hour".

Callen looked at his partner, who seemed worried. "Go on Sam, you're fast enough. Call her at Clarke's office. I'll be fine, walk my way back and hike or hitchhike my way back to our base."

Sam hated to lie, but had to find out what it was Hetty wanted to discuss. So he kept running, leaving his partner behind.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Callen walked a bit further, then found a large and old tree and decided he might just as well enjoy the quietness of the spot for a while. He must have dozed off, because he did not hear it coming until a motorcycle stopping close by. He got up and started to run again, easy going, two miles one way and another two back.

Once he saw the tree again, he stopped to do some stretching and cooling down exercises. He grinned when close to him a woman came out of the water. It reminded him of a scene from one of the Bond-movies he'd seen at Kensi's place. This was of course not Halle Berry he saw, but a well-built young woman, tanned, curly dark hair, that nearly touched her shoulders. Self-assured, clearly not aware of any possible company. She took a towel from the motorcycle and started to dry herself.  
Callen noticed she had a small tattoo on her left shoulder, an angel.  
In a split second he saw her profile. "Chris?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It had taken her nearly six months to recover. During the first two weeks, when she was constantly kept in a sleep, her government had made decisions without her but with lots of consequences for her life.  
A helicopter had taken her away from the site of the car crash, landed at Saint Vincent Medical Center where they managed to get her stabilized. With an extra medical crew they continued the flight to San Diego, where she had been operated several times in a small hospital. When she woke up, Christianne Young did not exist anymore, they told her. It was better that she went back to her home country for a witness protection program. They'd even chosen a new name for her, Anna de Vries.  
It would be better that way, so they said.

She had refused. She insisted on going to Brazil for a full recovery, to the place she had worked as a volunteer, ages ago. She decided not to rely on others, not her government, nor friends or a team.  
So far, she never informed how her family had dealt with her so-called death. She doubted if she could handle it. It was awful to live with the idea, because it was what she felt too, the other way around, as if her father and younger brother had died as well. Nobody told her anything about what really happened but when she had keep asking about Borya, they showed her a newspaper article in which was written about somebody shot to death and another person that died from the car crash itself. He was gone, something that affected her more than she thought. Later on, she had googled and found out that Vayavich had been transferred to Europe due to an extradition agreement.

The bullet that had hit her had fractured her left shoulder blade, leaving lots of bone splinters in her body, in her lungs. It had taken hours of operating to remove most and to keep her lung as intact as possible. It had taken her months to get stronger, to get used to a capacity of nearly 70% of her left lung and to function as if all was like it used to be.  
Swimming helped and she was glad she could do it in here.

Chris had decided that there would be no Anna de Vries and no anonymous life to be lead. Instead, she rejected the Dutch nationality and she had trained hard to get where she was today. And she was now working for Interpol, momentarily liaised to the Bureau of counterterrorism. Stationed undercover as a Staff Sergeant of the United Air force at this lovely island for a nasty job. He had a new name too, one she was given by Interpol and which she liked. It included a former life that wasn't hers, but it should be her new future as well. Right now, she, Stasya Newton, worked at Guam.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Chris?"  
Nobody she knew should use that name. She decided to ignore it. Ignore, get in her clothes, take the bike and leave as soon as possible.  
From behind her, the voice changed.

It was the body language, the extra tension that occurred when she heard him ask. Anybody who expected to be all alone would look around, curious about a stranger calling a name. He spoke louder. "Chris?"

She hurried even more, desperate to leave now. Then, from behind, he caught up with her, grabbed her shoulder to turn her around. The flash of fear when she saw those steel blue eyes she never thought she'd see again.

"No… it can't be you" she said in a soft voice.

He looked angry as he pulled her closer and he snapped "So, why did you decide to die, Chris Young?"

"I... I never did." She swallowed.

"Than what is it you are doing in here?"

She needed to think clearly. It was all so coincidental. He showed up at Guam while she was working in here to do her job. "I am not telling you Borya. Now let go of me," she said, her dark blue eyes spitting fire. She tore herself away from him and was going to run for her bike, but he was faster.

"Chris, wait… I'm sorry. It's just that—well, I don't get it. Why?"

"Why what," she snapped. "There is no sorry. Chris Young died. That's it. I did not kill her and you don't know me. Now please, stop doing this, will you?"

He pulled her close, noticing how his warm and sweaty body responded to feeling her bare skin and wet clothes. It felt goddamn great. Everything was right, like he knew it should be. All, except the fact that she refused to trust him. "Chris, listen, please. I—my name is not Borya, and I am not Russian. I told you that I was there to help you…"

She shivered. "I know. I remember. I heard somebody shout… and I wanted you to know I heard, but I could not…speak." Tears welled up in her eyes, he noticed, but she looked away from him.

"Please, remember Chris", he said in a soft voice. "I'm so very sorry all went wrong. I tried, I really did, but I failed". He felt she trembled. "You're cold. Get dressed and go, leave. Just forget it."

He turned, took a deep breath. So far for uttering his feelings, something he never seemed to succeed in. He never learned to express himself any better, he had always been afraid to get hurt himself if he showed other people how much he wanted to be loved. So he did what he was good at: put up his defenses and started to run again, run to road, run to the hotel, run away from what could have been, run away from her.

She didn't respond. She got dressed, took her motorbike and started the engine. She was wondering if she did the right thing.

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_Thank you for reading. Your reviews are welcome, as ever! _


	22. Chapter 22

_Thank you for all the response when Chris popped up again at this story! Now, I hope she does the right thing..._

* * *

**-22-**

He ran just ahead of her. She geared up, the roars of her bike sounded fierce as she passed him, just like he asked her to do. Then, she slowed down and stopped.

"It's at least another five miles till you reach the road. Don't know where you have to be, but if you want, I can at least give you a ride."

"Are you sure about that?" Callen looked at her. He caught her mixed expression of curiosity and hurt.

"I am," she answered. "Hop on, hold on tight and tell me where to go."

"I'll call a cab once we reach civilization," he simply said.

Deep within, she smiled. She took off to the place she lived since the last three weeks, mixing with the air force personnel like she should be.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"So in fact you found nothing?" Sam asked Hetty. "Tell me than, why is it you called?"

"Now Mr. Hanna, it is as if you did not listen very carefully. What I told you is that we cannot provide you of any information about Stasya. What we do know is what I need to share with you right now".

"Why not with G? He's the lead agent, isn't he?"

"Oh, he is Mr. Hanna. What I want is to inform you first, though. Now listen. Three weeks ago, an unknown male person contacted a female officer at Anderson Air Base, offering over three million dollar if she could arrange three drones. This officer contacted her superior who contacted agent Clarke about it. The sale should be going on in two days."

"Hetty", Sam interrupted, "It still does not explain why you want **ME** to listen to this first and not Callen."

"Because, Mr. Hanna, the female officer will not be the real officer, called Emma Sutherland, but somebody who will take that cover. And because Mr. Hanna, it will shake Mr. Callen's world indeed, since Stasya Newton will be the person that will cover for officer Sutherland. And Stasya Newton is in fact the new identity of Chris Young."

"But—She… So I was right. But you told us she died Hetty".

"I told you what they told me. The Dutch government obviously took a lot of precautions. But remarkably enough this young woman did not want to live a life that a government wanted her to live. So she chose her own name and another career and another nationality, so I have been told."

"Dzjeez. What if G knew? He'll be mad at you, at her perhaps."

"We can't prepare him, can we?" Hetty responded.

"What about the buyer?" Sam wanted to know.

"We do not know yet. It must be somebody who is at Guam already. The combination of the drones and cyanide was far too alarming, that is why you still are at Guam right now."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She had stopped at the apartment she used. "This is the place I live. You can call whoever you want from here."

"I do have a mobile phone," he said.

"True, but from this location they hardly work. So take it or leave it."

She hoped he'd just come with her. In fact, she wanted it. In here, at Guam, she felt so much better, so much stronger than she had been when they first ran into each other. He was no enemy, that was all she knew. And maybe if he could just explain who he was, why he was here as well, might help them from quarreling like they had just done.

The nameplate read 'Emma Sutherland'. "Your place?" Callen asked.

"For the time being", she calmly answered, opening the door and entering the apartment, leaving the door open for him. He entered and closed it behind him.

"Want to tell me why you are at Guam?"

"What if I tell you I can't?"

"Can't or won't? You still don't trust me at all, do you?"

"Oh dammit. I cannot, and if you don't believe that it's your problem. Not mine. You just make that phone call and say 'thank you for the ride' and that'll be it". Angrily, she turned around.  
In fact, she would want to know too why he was here, still not knowing what his real job and task was when he was 'Borya' and he did not tell her either. "The phone is near the couch. Help yourself," she snapped whilst she walked to the bedroom with annex shower room. She took some clothes, threw them on her bed and then undressed on her way to the shower room, simply leaving her jeans and sweatshirt scattered on the ground.

"You look pretty angry for a dead girl."  
She had not hear him coming and certainly did not expect him to stand there in the doorpost, probably watching her getting undressed until she was only wearing her still wet swimsuit.

"Great. Now, what is it you want? Yes, I am at Guam. Most people are here because they live here, they work here or they are on vacation. It's one of these three. That probably goes for you too, so stop asking."

"Might be so. Just wished you weren't that angry, I simply asked you a question and you seem to avoid every simple answer."

"Oh well, you're the one who threw the 'not trusting-thing' in. Not me. I could ask you too how come you turned up where I am. I think it's just… a coincident that we're both here, Borya."

"Told you, Borya does not exist," he said, as he came closer.

"Well, I could touch you, and I never touched anybody before who does not exist," she said, now looking straight into his very blue eyes.

"Want to know how that feels?" Callen knew he might go too far and see her eyes spit fire once more, but he needed to know if she had any feelings for him. His eyes were locked on her. He appreciated it she was not the flirty type. He had met far too many other woman who were. She looked stronger than when he'd last seen her, strong, but with curves at the right places.  
He liked the way she wetted her lips with her tongue and then bit her lower lip immediately after, something she was unaware of herself. It made her look slightly innocent, which was a large contrast with her character, he thought.

Chris looked at him, then reached out and touched his underarm. "It feels strong" and then she let her flat hand go over his chest. "Yes, it feels strong."

"Believe me, I'm not always," he said in a hoarse voice, suddenly realizing that he might not be able to tell her who he really was, and he should warn her for that. "Chris—I'm…"

"Shhht. Don't. Please, don't say anything more. It wouldn't matter. You don't exist, it is okay."

He wasn't used to this. She was not asking, just accepting. He looked in her dark blue eyes that were even darker now and she kept them open, as if she wanted to absorb everything she saw. "I remember you put your hand on my back, once. It felt… strong. And comforting."

It must have been that moment Deeks took the picture, he thought. "You don't seem to need that now. Being comforted, I mean." Yet, he came closer and did put his hand on her back. He felt her shiver once again. "Feel cold?"

Her voice was low as she said "It's not that and you know it." He knew, of course, and he pushed his body closer to hers, noticing that her breathing had changed. His hand went higher up, stopped when he touched her shoulder, then he caressed her neck and let his fingers comb her wild, dark curls. Then, he had them switch positions, her back against the doorpost.  
The moment he kissed her collarbone and neck, the raspy feeling of his stubble sent a quiver through her body and she sharply inhaled.

"Y'like that?" He loved to feel her like this, to see her like this and to hear her. He never expected to get a second chance, it had seemed impossible. All he wanted was them both to embrace that special occasion.

"Hhmm."

"You taste like the ocean."

"You smell sweaty. And I was going to have a shower." She suddenly flashed him an unexpected coy smile. "Maybe you should too".

"Are you sure about that?"

"I need a shower. Sure about that."

He raised his eyebrows and grinned, then he pulled off his shoes and his t-shirt. "So do I". Again, she surprised him by simply standing there, observing and absorbing, then her hands touched his chest again. Manly. In fact exactly as she liked it. Hardly any chest hair, and she loved the rough stubbles that gave her goose bumps if he touched her at the right places. "Tough" she whispered with a sigh.  
"Tough?"

She looked up. "Yes. No soft parts in here. And rough times. You've been shot. And stabbed. And hurt," as she gently let her fingers touch his skin, touched scars. "This one is from …?" Chris suddenly remembered how scared she had been when she had heard somebody shout a name, and the desperate feeling she had had when she thought he had died. She now realized he had been badly wounded indeed.

"It is". Callen was not too sure to talk about what happened, but he had felt the deep scar where the bullet had entered her shoulder, right beneath the small tattoo. He now saw the larger operation wound under her armpit and another, smaller wound right above the top of her swimsuit. He reached his hand to touch it, but she shoved it away. "Don't", she said, "don't touch it. I just don't like that".

She turned around to the shower and let the taps warm the water and then, when she was about to pull off the upper part of the swimsuit, a pager beeped.

"Oh shit" she muttered. "Need to take it."

Callen watched her walking back to the bedroom and reach for her jeans. Watching the message, she knew there was no time left for the long shower she had in mind.

"I'll have to hurry. Duty calls."

* * *

**Yes please. Review in here :-) **


	23. Chapter 23

**_It took a while, publishing this chapter. Hope it was worth waiting. Feel free to express your feelings about this chapter! Reviews are welcome indeed._**

* * *

**-23-**

"What do you mean, 'Duty Calls'?" Callen asked.

"I have to get back to work… Borya." She chose to use this name again, on purpose, to see if he'd correct her. "I know, Borya does not exist."

"I don't get it. You work here, Chris, work on Guam?"

"Good guess. And no, not in one of those dark bars you might have visited already. I did change my job, though. The Dutch government did not have any jobs for me vacant in here, so I applied for something different. Would you ever think the US Air Force would fit me?" she smiled. He still did not give away any clues on why he was in here. "So?"

"So what?"

"So. Just told you where I work. So, how about you?"

"Temporary assignment, Navy."

She lifted her eyebrows. "Uniformed?"

Callen suddenly laughed out loud. "What is it with women and uniforms?"

In all honesty, she answered "I don't know? It's just that I cannot imagine you in a uniform, that's why I asked. Now, I really have to hurry — mister no-name." Chris doubted for a while. She needed to shower first, that was true. But with all the exiting tension faded away, she suddenly felt foolishly shy and she did not really know how she should tell that.  
He read her unspoken question. "Have that shower, hurry. I'll call a cab."

Gratefully, she nodded. Just before she turned around, he stepped towards her. "Promise me you'll never distrust me again, Chris. And another thing. I think I preferred your long blond curls."

"So did I. It was not my choice to wear it like this. It'll change, you will see. Give it time."

It was cryptic, this remark, but he got it.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Sam tried to call his partner for the fifth time, but again the only thing he heard was the message that there was no connection, so it probably was in a dead zone. It slightly worried the former Seal, after all he left Callen at one of the remote beaches so that he and Hetty could discuss the fact if it really was Chris Young he'd seen. And Callen was, well, as Callen always was. Of course he was a grown up and of course he would find his way back to the hotel. However, there also was this nagging feeling that no matter how good an agent G. Callen was, he always attracted trouble as well.  
He decided that waiting was useless. Larry Clarke and Lauren Skyler were expecting them already, the real Emma Sutherland, her superior Hugh White and Emma's replacement would be there soon.

Sam left a short note and left for the office at the Naval Base.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She had left already, wearing a plain, fresh jeans and a red shirt with it. Easy going clothes, which came in handy for on a motorbike. No glamorous gown and high heels this time, but the sturdy yet girly look suited her just as much, he thought when she had closed the door.  
Since the taxi still had not arrived, he went for a quick check of her things. He knew he should not, and it did not feel good, yet it was all in his veins to check and double check.

'Emma Sutherland' had placed her duffel bag in the large wardrobe in bedroom. It contained some shirts, sports trousers, underwear and nothing more. Nothing personal, no identification papers. However, the wardrobe also contained two official uniforms and in the living room he found some magazines and newspapers she'd probably bought herself.  
All he knew was she traveled light, just like him, and was careful enough not to show any intruders that she was not the real Emma Sutherland.  
She definitely was a pro.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Four people were waiting for him already. Sam had met Larry Clarke and Lauren Skyler before, both related to the NCIS. There was Hugh White, an officer at the Air Base and stationed at Guam for ages. His skin had a natural tan, but also looked like leather, with lots of wrinkles near his eyes as if he was always looking into sunlight and had to keep focused.  
And he met Emma Sutherland, a nearly shy officer, about the same height as Stasya Newton, auburn curly hair at shoulder length.

The reason why they were here was to wait for the phone call that was supposed to take place. Emma Sutherland was supposed to have a phone call at 4.15 PM and they had agreed to take it in Clarke's office, because it could be overheard by and taped at the LA office. During this call, further arrangements for a possible sale of some drones were to be made.

A quarter of an hour before the phone call, the replacement of Emma entered, freshly showered, relaxed yet self-assured and full of spirit. A quick hello to Hugh White, whom she had talked to before and with whom she had arranged to live in Emma Sutherland's place, while the real Emma had a room at White's own house.  
She introduced herself to the ones she had not met before – Clarke, Lauren Skyler, Emma Sutherland and Sam.  
"Hey there, I believe we've already met?" Chris said, genuinely surprised to see the large man she'd met the other night, who had interrupted and helped her to get rid of the bunch of drunk sailors. "I'm Stasya Newton".

"Special Agent Sam Hanna, NCIS", he said. "And yes, we have met before". No way was he going to tell her that even before that, he knew who she was.  
"I'm stationed on Guam for just a short while, since we believe there is a parcel of cyanide being shipped, which probably is related to the case you're working on. And my colleague Clarke was aware of several cases we solved in Los Angeles before, so why not work together", he concluded his introduction.

Clarke explained that the phone call that would come in any moment now, would be recorded. "Agent Hanna will listen with you, Emma, and if necessary, he will write down you what to answer."

Nervously, Emma nodded. "Don't worry, Emma. You'll do fine", Sam said, smiling encouraging at the young woman. He wondered why and how a woman like Emma would have passed any test to work at the Air Force. "Tell me, at which unit do you work?"

"Uhm… Well, I fly drones. I mean, I'm a pilot, only for drones."

"Sounds stressful. Tell us, what is the reach of a drone?" Sam wanted to know.

"The ones in here can do up to 24 hours, carrying the weight of camera's and another 10 k, and up to 25.000 feet. But fully loaded and fueled, they'll fly less long," Emma said, sounding more confident right now. "My flights are mostly not that long, unless I have a co-pilot. If I fly alone, I can handle about 14 hours at the maximum, and the area then stretches from let's say Moskou to Oman."

"What did the possible buyer exactly ask you?" Chris was curious. She had heard from White before, but it would be good to hear from Emma too.  
Emma looked at the other woman. "He wanted me to think about his offer and told me he'd call back to discuss it."

"Right, now, what we want you to do is to agree, but on the condition that you arrange a meeting in which you make further arrangements," said Sam. "Clarke, which location would you suggest for such a meeting?"

"Josie's Tavern, definitely. Lots of military in there, but also great place for the locals."

White nodded at that suggestion "I would have chosen that place too."

"Can you do this, Emma? Or should Stasya take the call?" Sam asked.

"I can't do that. The buyer knows Emma's voice from the earlier call. So she should be the one he talks to again", she said.

So right, Sam thought. Quick thinking, like Callen would have done too. He missed his partner, and kept hoping he would be her in time. However, he was not so sure how Callen would react if he found out that the woman he fancied about 10 months ago, the one he had really mourned over when they had told him she had died, was alive and kicking and in this very same room. Not only that, it was a strange thing to see two women, nearly with the same sizes, same hair dress, sitting opposite of each other and being such different characters.  
There was hardly any time for anticipating his partner's reaction, since the phone rang and Emma had to answer it. All of them were quiet and listened to the woman talking. The only one who could hear the questions ánd the answers was Sam, and he knew the techs would record the complete call.

"Alright. I will be there at eight thirty," Emma ended the call. She seemed to be so relieved she could cry.

"You did well Emma," Sam said. On that, he contacted Eric.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He finally had a shower, dressed in a fresh set of clothes and hurried to the place Sam had told him to come to. First person he saw was his partner, caught in a phone call and gesticulating as if the receiver of the call could see him.

"Voice recognition Eric. Like you let face recognition programs running. Is that possible?—I know it's different because it is a phone call and—Yes Eric. As if I don't know that it is long distance. All was recorded well, wasn't it? Now, just try! Call me about it," Sam said. "No, that ehm, that situation has been solved already Eric. No need to discuss it right now" he added and ended the conversation.  
Sam had noticed Callen entering the conference room and in fact, Sam was not too sure if he could handle the usual paranoia of his partner.

"G, great you finally decided to show up", he nervously said.

"Yeah. Well, got a bit delayed after a hitchhike from that remote location Sam, and I desperately needed a shower first."  
Although Callen had always been one of the best actors Sam had seen, this time, he noticed the sparkle in the clear blues that stared at the one person in the room that Sam had thought he would be shocked about to see. On the contrary… and she, SHE bit her lower lip and looked away.

"Let me introduce you than to the ones you have not met yet. Hugh White, Emma Sutherland and Stasya Newton."

He nodded. "Special Agent G. Callen, NCIS."

White introduced himself and Emma Sutherland as officers for the US Air force, explaining what their tasks were.  
Stasya felt a bit uncomfortable now she had to tell why she was in here. "I work for the Interpol section of counterterrorism. For the time being, my name will be Emma Sutherland, meeting the buyer of some drones in a bar this night."

Although she was confident enough about this case, she did notice the quick glance of concern in his eyes when he asked "Any experience with undercover work, Miss Newton?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. In case you doubt it, ask for my files and study them. What's more, you don't have to work with me. I'm perfectly able to work alone, if necessary."  
Take that, special agent Callen… She felt disappointed that he had the nerve to ask this in public. Did he really question her skills? And if so, damn, why did it hurt her more than she could imagine?

"No offense, Stasya, I was just worried about this case and your cover. We'll have your back tonight," Callen said. As ever so often, he saw he annoyed the ones he cared for as noticed the hurt look in her dark blue eyes. He found it hard to express his feelings differently, still, he had no problems with things being… complicated.

Clarke added to that last remarks. "Emma will be safe and well, just in case the buyer knows who he can expect. Stasya will be a great replacement, I'm sure about that Callen."

"Thank you", she said. "So, I figure you will be around at 'Josie's'. I'll be there in time", she concluded. "Will see you in there."  
On that, she left. She needed to be alone for just a while, time to rebuild her self-confidence. No, not true. She knew she could do this, with or without G. Callen.

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**_Thank you for reading!_**


	24. Chapter 24

**-24-**

"Stasya!?"  
She turned around.

"Stasya, listen. I can see you're upset. But he tends to be like this—checking a first reaction. It's not that he doubts your qualities. I think—it's more… Well, I saw how devastated he was when we had to tell him that Chris had died".

"You were around?" She was curious about it.  
So far, the thing that bothered her enormously was that she could recall every single thing she had felt, thought and experienced: the sound of the shot and the gruesome shrieking of a bullet piercing through the material of the car, then the impact of the bullet in her body, bone that seemed to crack, the sudden feeling that breathing was impossible, the pain, the panic.  
And the incredible blue eyes, caring, panicking, the unbelief, the shouting, more shooting, the screeching brakes, the car turning around, Borya being thrown through the car and then the fact that it suddenly was quiet, except for somebody stepping closer to the car. Another shot. And the shouting 'G'!  
She recalled it, every single bit, and it came back to haunt her nearly every single night. She never shared this, though, and the only one she could do that with would be Borya. Well, Callen in fact.

"I was, Chris," said Sam. "I mean—Stasya. Yes, I was. I thought the both of you were dying on the spot, it was an awful mess. But listen, this is not what one would discuss on the street somewhere in a strange environment. I was talking about Callen."

"Who is pretty unsure about my abilities, so it seems."

"What I want you to know is that I think he's worried, and probably feels guilty about what happened too."

"Great. Let him feel, no problem. But uttering his doubts in public feels quite… It sucks, as a matter of fact." She stepped away, wanting to go.

"I understand." Sam had come closer to her and gently reached for her arm. "Listen, Stasya, I understand. And I've known him for years now; he never meant to make you feel uncomfortable, or insecure. He's our team leader, and he needs to know that you are capable enough to be in his team; if you're up for it, if you fit in. And you do."

She looked up in his serious brown eyes and she knew he meant it. "Thank you, Mister Hanna".

He softly squeezed her arm and sent her an encouraging smile. "I'll gladly work with you, and so will he. As long as you call me Sam. And hey. After this case is closed, you and I will have something to drink and I will tell you about what happened—there and then. Now, let's go inside again"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"What was all that about, big fellow?" Callen asked his partner in the small hallway of Clarke's office.

He frowned at this remark of his partner "Oh G… You're so—talented. Ever figured out what one single remark of you can do to someone you know so little of?"

"What?"

"Pick your words better. Communicate."

"Yeah. Right. Let's go on with what we do. Plan."

"I think we're done planning, G".

They went back inside, had another quick concluding on who would do what and when. White and Sutherland would stay away, far away from it all.

"Stasya, you'll go in alone. You will be wired and wearing an ear wig, so we can hear everything you say and will be told, and we can help you giving the right answers. Clear? "

"Sure. I'll be in uniform, of course. And I'll get a jeep from the base. How about the wiring, where and when?"

"Lauren can help you, you know how it works?" Callen asked.

"I do. Don't know about her?"

"No, I don't know how it works", the younger woman said.

Callen said: "Then both of you should be in here about half an hour before Stasya is leaving. I'll help if necessary."

Stasya nodded and looked around at the others. "So, you will all be around?" she asked.

Callen looked at the others. "You all know this place?" he asked. Clarke and Skyler nodded.

"Well I've never been there myself, but I know lots of my people visit Josie's," said White.

"How about you, Emma?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I have been there before. Four times," she said with a shy giggle. "With one of my co-pilots".

"So somebody might recognize 'you', am I right?" Callen wanted to know.

She shrugged. "Don't know, I am no regular guest, I did not say that."

"Right. That means that you will have to play your role extra carefully, Stasya."

"It is okay, I can do that", she said as she looked him straight in his blue eyes.

"I know you can." Sam added to that. "And we will be around, of course. How about Lauren and you as tourists, Callen, and Clarke and I could be uniformed," he suggested.

Callen looked at his partner and decided it would be a good idea. "Alright by me. How about you?"

"Sounds okay," Clarke answered.

"Well, I never did any fieldwork really," Lauren said, "but I could be your girlfriend. It will be so easy, hardly any reason to pretend to have a nice night out with you."

The husky laugh of the younger woman made Stasya feel uncomfortable, the flirty thing really did not suit her and now she experienced something she did not like. She herself would love to have the fun night out with Callen instead of having to watch him being claimed by Lauren. On the other hand, she had made a deal with herself not to get into relations. Just in case she'd be hurt, again. But in one way or another, something deep down inside already hurt. She felt angry at herself for letting Lauren's behavior, or the idea of Callen with Lauren, affect her this way. She did her best to hide her inner feelings and act professionally.  
"Right, so the four of you will be around. And at which point will you decide to intervene or want me to agree?"

"We'll let you know right then and there", Callen said bluntly. From the look in her dark blue eyes he knew that what he was said offended her, again. At the same time, to him she appeared to detach herself from any chitchat as if she wanted to leave soon.  
It made Callen even more determined to ask Hetty to send over files of both Chris Young and Stasya Newton. She definitely was a pro, but he needed to know if she was a team player too.

"You've made your point, clear enough, agent Callen," she answered. "I'll see you around, tonight." This time, they let her leave.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It felt good to speed up at the Cross Island Road, which at this time of the day was hardly used. The concentration she needed to keep in control of her motorcycle was very welcome. She wondered if she would have accepted this case if she had known beforehand that he would be around. No need to think that over, because how on earth could she have known?

Despite the fact that there was a team around her to work with right now, she felt lonelier than before. She decided to get some sports clothes and head to the base for a long workout, grab something to eat and head back to the naval base to prepare for what was to come.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"I'd say those are trust issues, G", Sam said after he heard his partner ask for the latest public file of Chris Young and Stasya Newton.

"Not your problem, Sam", said Callen. "And stop talking about trust. I do trust her, really. It's just that, well—"

"That you have trust issues. I know."

"Don't go there big fellow," he warned. "I just need to know if she is used to be part of a team".

"And if she isn't? Like it or not, I know somebody who is a great team player but has the tendency to go all lone wolf and I still gladly have his back. Sounds familiar? That will go for her too, G, and if you can't, I will be there for her."

"You ready with this lecture? Because I am!" Callen snapped.

"G! There's more. I'm not blind, you know. I saw what you've been through after that case. I see how the two of you look at each other. If you're just curious about who she is, ask her, instead of Hetty". Sam was glad to see the hard stare grow softer.

"Maybe you're right."

The smile on his partner's face said enough. "I'm always right, G," he said.  
But Sam knew all too well that when it came to feelings, G. Callen would be hard to read, hard to convince and the high walls around his heart were hard to tear away. Sam Hanna trusted Stasya Newton could do that. But she herself needed to trust his partner first…

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He knew what clothes could do to change ones appearance. He'd been told so many times himself that he could change his character with every change of shirt. Kensi was talented too in that aspect, but the woman he was facing right now was a very different one than the one he saw leaving earlier on.  
"You really áre Emma," he said, genuinely surprised. The marine blue skirt and blazer, with the crisp white blouse looked as if they were tailor made and the way this uniform fitted immaculate, it was as if she never was used to any other clothing. The make-up she had applied completed the overall change of the personality.

She shyly smiled. "Thank you G. Callen."  
Then, there was the lively sparkle in her eyes that made him realize how good an actress she was. "Satisfied?" she asked, arching her brows.

His gaze moved over her body. "With everything, so far."

The ticking of high heels announced that Lauren Skyler was on her way as well. The red dress she was wearing was perhaps just a bit too short and certainly very tight. She was wearing her long, blonde hair loose which made her look even younger.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"Of course not. We were just waiting for you," Stasya said.

"Well, it appears I will have to be a very protective boyfriend," Callen said, looking at what Lauren was wearing. "But never mind. Lauren, will you just help Stasya, do what she says you need to do?"

"Uhu. I will".

Both women went to a small room, where Stasya opened the small suitcase which contained all she needed. Then she took of the blazer and blouse and handed Lauren the small device. "If you clip this to my bra and start taping the wire, press that small button it, then it'll work if activated and if you on the other side will use the wigs. Easy as can be."

Lauren did what she was asked to do, quickly and determined. "It's a great tattoo you have in there Stasya."

"Thank you."

After some seconds of hesitation the younger woman asked "Does it really camouflage what I think it does?"

"It does. I hate it when people would see only that. The tattoo is sweet, the reason for it being there is not."

"What—when did that happen?"

"In another life, Lauren. It is not important anymore."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She had arrived at Josie's early enough to take a good look around. It did not surprise her to see Sam and Larry Clarke already being around. There was public around, yet it was not completely crowded. Stasya could easily find a quiet spot from where she was seen by everybody coming in, and from where she could see other people entering.  
Now it was about time, she did feel nervous, but she knew it were the right nerves, the ones that kept her alert.

She ordered something to drink and tried to think and look as Emma Sutherland. Nervously.

That was exactly what Callen saw when he and Lauren came in too: a nervously looking Emma. She was good.

They all knew that nobody would show up anymore once Lauren had enough time to finish five margueritas, clearly some too much for the young woman.

"Maybe it's time to leave, Stasya," she heard Callen say quietly. "Don't know what happened, but in here there's clearly no-one keeping an eye on you."

Stiffly, she got up, went to the bar to pay and then left Josie's Tavern, walked to the car and drove home.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Sam and Clarke had left the tavern already, each driving a car to the place they stayed or lived.  
Callen and Lauren were the last of their team to leave, simply because he wanted to be sure nobody was following Stasya or would come in later, looking for Emma.

Callen took the young woman, who clearly had enough to drink, home just a little later, driving her car since she herself was not able to drive herself. Much to his surprise, Lauren lived quite near Emma's place.  
He decided to check on her, to see if she was alright.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Stasya put of her shoes, skirt and blazer when she got home and then carefully removed the wires, the ear wig and the transmitter. Now dressed in only the blouse and underwear, she poured herself some whine and gratefully sipped some of it. She took the glass in her hand and walked to the living room, quickly checking if anything suspicious was going on outside. The only thing that was different from the last few days was a green car parked opposite of the street, nothing to worry about.  
She decided to have a shower to remove the last remains of the tape. The hot water made her relax and she felt ever so much better afterwards. She had changed into a tanktop and knickers only since it was hot inside, and opened some windows. At that moment, she thought she saw a small light and some shades near the green car and a sudden feeling of paranoia came over her.  
Despite the fact that the apartment was on the third floor, she decided to close the shutters, just so that nobody could see her.

She had some more whine, curled up on the couch and took a magazine. All seemed right, until she thought she heard the backdoor of the building being shut. Maybe she had been right? From behind the cushion of the couch she took her gun, loaded it and carefully slipped out of her apartment to the staircase.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

From across the street, he had observed the apartment for a while. He was pleasantly surprised to really see her in there as he watched her standing in front of the window, looking straight at him but not noticing him. Another feeling overwhelmed him. She could be his, if he played it right.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

From the darkest corner of the staircase, she saw a person walking up and stopping in front of her apartment, clearly not sure what to do next.

"Put your hands where I can see them and then turn around, real slow," she ordered.

He did exactly what she asked and when he did, he faced a scarcely dressed woman, barefooted and with a gun pointed at him and all he managed to say was 'oh wow'.

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_**Thank you for reading! **_


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N** _Before you start reading, please be aware that this chapter might have been re-rated to an M. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Up to you to decide. Hope you like it, anyway_.

* * *

**-25-**

"What are you doing, sneaking up in here?!"

"Wasn't 'sneaking'."

"Oh yes, you were. I know, I felt it and I even thought I saw it, being watched. Why—"

"Wait. What was that, being watched?" he asked.

"You were watching from down there, weren't you?"

"No way was I doing so. What do you think I do for a living, stalking? Show me what you mean?"

She locked the gun and opened the door, leaving the lights out. She motioned him to follow her into the living room and then, slowly, opened the shutters and was fully surprised the car she saw before wasn't there anymore. She turned to Callen. "It's gone. There was this car."

"Brand? Plates?" Callen hurried to the phone. Maybe he could contact Eric. Looking at the time zones, Eric would probably still be at ops.

"I think it was a Toyota, a green one, five doors. It was too dark to see or read plates".

He had to redial twice, because although he knew how to reach the LA headquarters by heart, he forgot to use the codes for Guam first. "Eric?—Yeah I know what time it is. Can you let your magic work in Guam as well? I'd ask Clarke if I knew he had the same equipment in his office—yes. No, hopeless.—Far less, hardly seen any cams around. It's for…" he looked at her and she said "Bihu St Mongmong-Toto-Maite, 96910."  
She could hear that the person on the other side never heard of the street and in fact, she hadn't either when she came in here for the first time.

"Yes, let Sam know please.—Yes, that too, hope you'll soon know more. —Because… I'll explain later."  
He hung up. "Now, about you and what just happened".

"What just happened, well, I don't know. There was just a car, it might be a coincident. Maybe there's nothing to worry about and maybe I was just paranoia."

"If your gut feeling is working like mine, I might stay here to keep an eye on you."

"It's okay, I can handle it," she said, as she let her hands go through her still wet curls.

"You can handle it, but I am far from sure if I can. I have never before been threatened by a barefoot woman dressed in a tanktop and boxer shorts only," he said hoarsely.  
"Oh and please, Chris, don't do that" as he saw her wetting her lips and then biting her lower lip again. He let his eyes go over her body again. "Dzjeez" was all he said as he came closer and kissed her. The tiny moan she let out did it. Callen started kissing her neck, remembering how she had reacted to that before.

The raspy feeling of his five o'clock stubble, combined with the feeling of the cool leather of his jacket against her skin made her body answer for her. Callen let his hands roam all over her, feeling how she started pressing her body more against his and the soft sounds she made encouraged him to go on.  
She managed to get him out of the jacket and pulled his shirt up, running her hands underneath, changing from a soft tickling of her fingertips over his torso to a light massaging of his shoulders, his back and lowering her hands.

"Sure about this?" He asked her, though the look in her eyes said it all. Callen kicked off his boots and, without unlocking his eyes from her gaze, undid the button of his jeans when her hands took over and were working on the zipper and shove his jeans of.

"Definitely," was all she managed to say as she pulled him closer.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

_At the LA Office of Special Operations_

"Too many variables, Bertrand's Paradox, the classical sample space, it breaks down the definition of the continuous probability theory, but still".

"What on earth do you mean Nell?" Deeks wanted to know.

Eric mischievously looked at the small yet clever analytical wonder woman standing next to him before he completed her words "random variables combined with stochastic processes, measured quantities that singly occur or evolve over time in an apparently random fashion".

"What it means, Mr. Deeks, is that I am sending you and Miss Blye to Guam right now, no probability but as a fact."

"But Hetty—Nell said—why?"

"Never really paid attention at maths, Marty?" Eric teased.

"I did," Kensi said, "and I still don't get what you two were saying right now, but the simple fact that Igor Yerko signed for a green rental Toyota at Avis Guam makes things too suspicious."

"Igor Yerko, as in 'Igor Yerko'?"

"The very same, Mr Deeks. And in case you do not remember this Igor Yerko, he was one of the members of Vayavich' elite team, the only one that got away. Now, I assume your bag is packed already because your plane will leave in 42 minutes from now."

"You mean check in time is in 42, wait, 41 minutes?"

"Quit talking. No check in, you two got a flight to catch with a military personnel plane, straight to Guam Andersson which makes you arrive at 5.30 AM local time. Now, shoo!" Hetty said.

"Have mercy Hetty. Please not another of these shake, rattle and roll machines?"

"Filled with disciplined people who hate nervously talking strangers indeed. Come on, Deeks, you won't keep them waiting!" his partner said.

Despite the jaunty air her decision to send Deeks and Kensi to Guam as well, had to do with Hetty's growing concern that something might in fact be very shook up when it came to these cases.  
Far too many coincidents: the cyanide, the drones, the short distance from Russia ánd the fact that Yerko was around. She decided to text Sam and Callen to let them know their team mates would be staying in the same building as they were.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Callen woke up from the softest buzz of his phone, needing only some seconds to realize where he was. He carefully reached for his jeans to get his phone and smiled when, with his unexpected move, a soft moan and the sensual, cat-like stretching reminded him that he was sharing this bed with an amazing woman.  
He sighed, wishing this session of satisfying sleep and careless dreaming had not been disturbed by something else. Something must have come up on the LA screens, something important, otherwise none of his team would not text at this time.  
The message worried him indeed. Igor? To him, Igor had been just a puppet on a string. Not the kind of person that would succeed Dmitri as a Brigada leader and plan himself. And how come Igor had not been arrested at that time?

He stepped out of bed and headed to the living room, wondering if he should let Hetty know what his ideas were about this. Just when he thought he should do so, another message from their operation manager popped up. 'Be careful Mr Callen, Yerko knew Borya and Miss Young.'

He let his thoughts run and then decided to text back, to Hetty and Sam. 'Will keep an eye on her. Find out Yerko's whereabouts of the last months.'  
A sneak peek from the dark place he was standing through the windows showed nothing suspicious was happening outside at all.

He stepped into the bedroom again, leant against the wall and watched her for a while. She slept partly on her side, partly on her stomach, her body half covered by the sheets, her arm folded under a pillow, dark curls spread out everywhere.  
After they had made love she never put on the tanktop again and now he was looking at one of her perfectly shaped breasts and her long tanned leg that was stretched on to where he just lay. Callen let out a deep breath and slipped next to her. The slight movement made her curl her leg in a way that made it hard for him to fall asleep again. Not that he longed for his bedroll, though…

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Even in his sleep he could feel it. Somebody was watching him. "Chris?" he said in a quiet voice.

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_As ever, your reviews are welcome!_


	26. Chapter 26

_Thank you all for staying with me in this story. And as you all know: I don't own NCIS-LA, none of the team. It's all CBS folks! But they let us use them and I am glad I can! The only person that is mine is Stasya. Or Chris... Keep reading!_

* * *

**-26-**

"Hey. Sorry, did I wake you?" She stood there, leaning at the doorpost, dressed in the white blouse and drinking from a bottle of water she just got from the fridge. She looked exhausted, which, looking at the time on his phone, was nothing strange. "I should have warned you, I'm a bad sleeper," she said as she looked away from him.

Callen saw how she shivered. "It's not that cool out there, is it?"

She shook her head. "It's not that", she sighed. "Go back to sleep, Callen. I'll be alright." She turned around and headed to the living room. He closed his eyes, but was suddenly aware of the sound he heard. She had opened the shutters. Sitting in the windowsill, with her knees pulled up, she enjoyed the quiet night, like she mostly did once she was awake.

"Chris? Get out of there." It sounded like an order.

"There's no need to snap at me! I'm okay, told you, go back to sleep."  
He suddenly stood next to her in no time and pulled her back in the room. "It's not okay. Dammit Chris, I just heard that Igor is somewhere around."

"You just 'heard'? He rang the door or what?" She sent him a confused glare. "Igor. You can't be serious. Igor was only accepting orders, he was filth, he just did what others wanted him to do, he killed, he was a slave to his master, yet he was watching, enjoying when…"  
She stopped, wanted, no needed, to stay strong, not fall apart.

"Chris, are you sure you're okay?"

She suddenly felt nauseous, and she shook her head. She wasn't even close to okay. "Just stop," she said.

"Stop what?"

"Please just stop asking and stop being nice to me right now. I don't want to lose it."

Callen took her by her shoulders and turned her around. Softly, he combed her curls from her face and caressed her jaw. "Chris, I know—"

She shook her head, her eyes darkening and not really looking at him anymore, just spitting out words. "No you don't. You were around, all the time, but you don't know. You took me away, but you let it happen. You were there but you didn't it see all, they were my team, my friends, you don't know what he said, what he did, how it feels, you could not stop…"  
She swallowed and before she could finish her sentence, Callen kissed her. He wanted to her to know he cared, he wanted her to feel safe. He held her close, caressed her, kissed her again, hushed and embraced her until he finally felt she relaxed, snuggling against his body.

"It's time to get back in bed," he said as he simply guided her with him.

"Will you just hold me, just…"

"I'll be here, Chris." He did hold her, feeling both his and her eagerness for tenderly making love. There was no need for teasing, no need for hurrying either. Being as close as possible, being together, exploring each other's body and sharing each other's love was all they needed.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The smell of fresh coffee woke her, early next morning. She stretched, shove off the sheets and got up.

"Hey there. You… look good" he said, looking at her. The dark, auburn curls were wild and in one way or another she reminded him of a jaguar, wild, dangerous but very attractive at the same time.

She suddenly felt quite shy, standing in front of him, and wearing nothing but a pair of ocean blue panties. She crossed her arms, but he gently took them away and cupped one of her breasts. "There's no need to hide anything as beautiful as this. How about us—" Before he could finish his sentence, his phone buzzed again. Callen read the message and sighed. "Hmm. Not now. It's time for me to leave now Chris."

"Saved by the buzz?" she said, a sparkle in her eyes, despite the fact she felt sorry that his hands stopped touching her. "I don't know how your phone does what it needs to do, while most of the time connections are terrible."

"We should find out, Chris. Maybe I'll call you later, although I did appreciate the welcome of last night better now I think about it."

She laughed. "I'm still confused, I cannot imagine that I once wanted you dead, so be careful with what you ask. And please, remember not to call me Chris. It should be Emma, or Stasya. Chris is not around anymore."

"To me she was, all night. And it felt damn good," he said. "You look tired, why don't you just snooze a bit? I'll be briefing some colleagues who just arrived."

"Might just do so," she said. She walked to the large window and peeked through the shutters. "Where did you park your car Callen?"

"Crap. I have no car, now you mention it," he answered. "I drove Lauren home, last night, since she had far too much to drink to drive herself. Maybe I should wake her?" He could not help chuckling as he saw the expression on her face. "Just joking".

"If you're in a hurry, you can take my car. But I'll have to return it later this morning at Andersen, and get my motorbike back in here."

"Promise me to be careful. I was not kidding about Igor. A green car was rented to Igor Yerko earlier this week."

"Yet you and I know Yerko is no person who takes a lead when it comes to action. Something is not right Callen, you know it, and I know it." She looked at him, her marine blue eyes worried. "Take care, Callen. Call me when you're ready so I can return the car."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was time for quick, but well thought-out action, knowing she was alone in the apartment right now.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"What took you so long, got stuck in the bathroom?" Deeks welcomed Callen.  
Deeks and Kensi had arrived some hours earlier and hardly caught any sleep at all. They had gathered at the restaurant at the Marianas for a breakfast, meanwhile taking time to talk about the case and Sam had been waiting with them until Callen finally showed up after a quick shower and change of clothes.

"No. I ehm…"

"You kept an eye on Stasya Newton, just like Hetty asked, didn't you?" Sam asked. He read it in his partner's eyes and he softly chuckled.

"Yeah. It was a long night indeed." The boyish grin Callen sent his partner said it all.

"You did what? Keep an eye on the girl or what, were there other ways to keep her safe?" Deeks wanted to know.

"Deeks, Shut up! Really!" Kensi exclaimed. "Hey Callen, Hetty wanted to have you this." She handed him a USB flash-drive. You asked for some files?"

"Yes I did." He wasn't all too sure about if he still needed them or wanted to know what was in the files. He took the small thing, let his fingers play with it. "I'll have look later. Maybe we should go to Clarke's office, contact Eric."

"Or Nell. Hetty has them in overlapping duties right now," Kensi said.

"Well, we need to contact them. I asked if they could find out more about Yerkov's whereabouts and I want to know if they found something already."

They finished breakfast and shared cars, Deeks and Kensi took the one Sam rented and Sam joined Callen. "So… you decided to check on the girl and she let you do that?"

"Yeah. Kinda like that."

"And so you had a long stake out." Sam grinned as he saw his partner redden. "No need to explain any further G."

"Wasn't going to."

"Glad you did," Sam said.

"Now what. 'Glad you did' – what did I do Sam"? Callen looked at his partner, who was still grinning.

"Glad you took care of it all. I like her, you know," Sam explained.

"So do I. But you figured that out of course."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Clarke was at his office already and had cleared a small room next to his for the LA-team. Once Kensi and Deeks had installed their laptops, they called in through a live stream with the OSP. It was Eric who appeared on screen.  
"Hey guys, fun to see you in there."

"It is not about fun Eric," Sam said.

"Oh. I know, of course. What I meant was. Well. You know. Hi."

"Eric? Any news on Yerko?" Callen wanted to know.

"News, not really, but…"

"Go on. What do we need to know?"

"Yerko stayed in Los Angeles only two weeks after Vayavich was arrested. Then he closed the casino and left town."

"Where did he go afterwards?" Kensi asked.

"He left for Europe only two days before our government agreed on the extradition and transfer of Vayavich, which is odd. Two days before, as if—"

"Indeed. As if he knew what was going on. Damn. I think they both knew what was going to happen," Callen grumbled. "And after that?"

"We traced him to Los Angeles again, for some weeks. Then back to Europe, to the Netherlands, and after that to Brazil, Japan and Russia and back to Los Angeles. We lost track three weeks ago and he showed up in Guam six days ago, only shortly before you arrived."

"How about phone records, finances?" Sam asked.

"Immediately after the transfer of Vayavich to Holland, there were weekly phone calls. That stopped, quite suddenly, only to be caught up again shortly after the return to Los Angeles. And bank account? The guy had loads of money after he left the casino, but appears to be broken once he got back to Los Angeles. Then suddenly there's an amount of 5 mil being transferred last week."

They all were quiet for a while.  
"It all doesn't make sense. Even with all this information, it does not tell us anything at all," Deeks said. "He might have had great holidays, drinking Budweiser, beerenburg, rum, sake and vodka with his girlfriends or grandma, nothing you can learn from this. Try again, Eric," Deeks said.

"Try what?" a confused Eric asked.

"Try if you can make different schedules. Anything that happened more or less simultaneously in those countries, perhaps?" Sam added.

"Wait with that," Callen said. "Ask for a prison file of Vayavich, with his picture on it first."

"You think…" Sam looked at his partner.

"Yes. I think I should trust my gut feeling. And hers too" he answered.

While they were thinking this over, Clarke entered the room. "Just got a call from Myers. The parcel has arrived. I ordered him to not touch anything and told him one of us will come and get it. He was a bit worried, there has been a green car in front of his house since earlier on and there was a phone call to his house, asking about the parcel."

"Did he tell you who called?" Callen asked.

"His wife took the call. It was a Russian name." He looked at a piece of paper and said: "Borya Gorjajev".

"Shit. That is serious shit, Callen," Deeks said.

"You're right Deeks" was all he said before he hurried out of the room. He had to call her, tell her…

* * *

_As ever, please do leave your review, love to read those too :-)_

**A/N** Halfway this chapter I heard the song of Aha, Hunting High & Low. In one way or another, I could not get it out of my head. Those lines:

Here I am  
And within the reach of my hands  
She sounds asleep and she's sweeter now  
Than the wildest dream could have seen her  
And I Watch her slipping away  
Though I know I'll be hunting high and low

To find her again  
Upon this my dreams are depending  
Through the dark  
I sense the pounding of her heart  
Next to mine  
She's the sweetest love I could find  
But I'll always be hunting high  
And low…


	27. Chapter 27

_**Just love this team, that all belongs to CBS and Shane Brennan. Thanks for handing them over, just for the lenght of this story || and longer :-)**_

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**-27-**

Why for heaven's sake was she not answering the phone? There was no message this time that no connection was possible. Well, perhaps she was having a shower, Callen thought. He decided to check on their way to or back from Myers, even if it would take another half hour more.

"Clarke, will you stay in here? We'll visit Myers and see to it we do get the parcel back with us. Is there a safe place to stack it in here?"

"I will make arrangements to do so. Do you need any more help, want any personnel joining you?" Clarke asked.

Already on their way out, Callen answered "Not necessary, we'll manage. And if Stasya calls, tell her I need her car a little longer. Ask her to call me!" Again, they took the two cars. This time, Sam drove. He looked in the rear view mirror to see if Deeks and Kensi followed. They were, and as ever, Kensi had taken the steering wheel.

"G, about Borya. I thought Hetty had officially declared him dead?"

"She said she had. That's why I have my serious doubts about what's going on," he said, while texting their operation manager again. "And this morning when I left Chri—Stasya, she said something like that too. It's just… Igor was never the person who showed any initiatives."

"You're worried," Sam concluded.

Callen looked at his partner. "And you're not?"

"Come on G. Yes, I am too. But you must feel—"

Callen did not let him finish his sentence. "Dadgummit Sam, there's no need to tell me how I should feel. Yes, I am worried," he said as he stubbornly started to watch through the window on his right.  
No need for others to bother with HIS feelings, not even Sam. He hardly knew himself what to think of what was going on. Now he was doing what he was supposed to do, which was work, just his job nothing more, nothing less.  
It was just that he was not used to this nagging feeling of worrying. He was used to it, it was simply part of the job to take care of others. It included protection of who needed to be protected and he would do everything within his power to keep everybody safe.  
It was even worse when it came to his team. They were more like… a kind of family perhaps, like Nate had him believe. They always had each other's back, they needed to because they were… family. Dear.  
Now, Chris did not really belong to either of these groups. She was clever, strong and independent, not really the person who needed to be continuously protected. Hack no, she wouldn't appreciate it at all. On the other hand, she did not belong to his team either, although they should work together. Still, he felt responsible for all that was going on, and she had warned him. Something was not right at all…

"G, are we good?"

He looked up. "Yeah man. I'm sorry. About this cyanide, I thought…. it is bizarre. Someone must have watched Myers house all the time."

"Not only that. You do realize to that there is a certain somebody, that same person, who knows you once were Borya?"

"Hell I do. That same person must know Chris as well. Deeks was right. It is serious shit and I wished she was… here. Or at least I wished I could tell her to stay low. After visiting Myers, I want you to drive past her house. She's not answering her phone right now."

"After? No way," Sam said as he brought the car to a stop. He saw Kensi pulling over their car next to theirs.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Kensi asked.

"We're going to check if Chris, well I mean, Stasya, is alright. She's not answering her phone," Sam answered calmly. "So if the both of you will visit the Myers already? We'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Where is there?" Deeks wanted to know.

"Callen will send you the details on your phones once he's done texting Hetty."

"Done already guys. See you in GabGab."

"Definitely a certain gap in my topography lessons. GabGab. Wonder if TomTom can find it-it?" Deeks took a look in the car's route planner. "Ah, found it. You can GoGo Kenz. Oh wow, did I just say that? GoGo girl!"  
Right before Kensi started driving again, they heard her say "Thoughts like that are a definite NoNo. Just shut up Deeks."

Despite of it all, it made them smile. Some persons would never change.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She had not answered the phone and now she did not open the door either.

"Dammit. She should have stayed in here. Now what?" He looked at his partner, who nodded affirmatively. Callen took the small lock pick set from his jacket, wriggled it until they heard the click that was needed to open the door. Carefully, he stepped through the open doorway, followed by Sam.

All was quiet inside. Too quiet. They both checked as they were used to, guns drawn, careful not to miss any details. The rather small apartment was easy to go through. In the living room, there was nothing out of the ordinary, so far. The bed was unmade and Callen touched the side where she had slept, to feel if it was still warm. Nothing. It made him feel uneasy, being at this place with his partner, touching the very same bed where he made love with a gorgeous woman. Hell, even the slightest touch of the sheets made him smell her sensual body…

The smug little smile of Sam made him look up. "What?" he muttered. "She's been up at least over an hour."

"Did I say anything, G?"

"You didn't. There was that look."

"That look. Well… I never thought I'd be the one sending you a look. Especially no looks you would care about," Sam grinned. "And now you feel offended because I did what? Smile?"

"There, you did it again."

"Really G… You were looking like a six year old who is visiting Disney Land for the very first time."

"Am not. I want to know where she is, doing grocery shopping or something else."  
Callen was concerned indeed and Sam sensed it. Concerned, which was okay, but Sam knew he had to keep his partner focused because there was definitely more going on: profession and personal life were getting mixed up.

"Anything missing, anything obviously not around?" Sam asked, serious now.

He had a quick look in the wardrobe and at the pile of clothes she had put on a chair. "She's not gone sporting. Swimsuit and sports clothes are still in here. Not wearing a uniform, they're all in here," Callen concluded. "She's probably dressed in a jeans with an easy going shirt with it." Then, after another look around, he said "Pager is missing. She carries it with her all the time."  
He headed for the living room. "And her cell phone. She's constantly complaining that connections fail. But it is not here so she took it with her."

"Number?" Sam wanted to know.

"No idea."

"She might have it programmed it her fixed phone. Michelle did that too." He started scrolling through numbers.

"Maybe we should have Eric check it?" Callen suggested.

"You know and I know that it could take another day before that is done. This will go faster, believe me," Sam answered. "There, 'me mobile'." He put it on speaker and let the phone do what it needed to do: call and after it had rang only three times, she answered. "This is Emma's speaking. I cannot take your call, please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible."

"So far for your magic. Crap, I should have known Sam. This is Emma's place, of course."

"Now what? Have Eric go through all messages?"

"I'll try Andersen base. White should know how to reach her", said Callen as he took over the phone, scrolled and dialed the number with his own phone. "White? Special agent Callen here. I'm looking for Stasya Newton.—You might have her number now so—Uhu. She's not around in there now?—Right" He found a pen and quickly noted the number. "Thank you."  
Then, after he ended the call, he immediately dialed the number White had given.

"Nothing. Dead. Dammit Sam." He looked in the worried dark brown eyes of his friend.

"Eric," was all Sam said. He took the fixed phone and called the number he knew by heart. "Oh, Nell? Sam here. Can you trace the whereabouts of this number?" he asked as he spelled out the number. "Thank you! You can try to call in or text."  
Then, after he hung up, he turned to Callen. "We need to go buddy. There's nothing we can do in here and Kensi and Deeks are waiting for us."

Rubbing his temples, Callen sighed and walked out with Sam, back outside.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Their two team mates had not hurried the way Sam hurried on Road 1, but they had arrived already. Because they did not know yet what their plan would be, they discussed it on their way.

"Let me be the lost tourist while you check from the back, okay?" Deeks suggested.  
By driving past the house slowly Kensi and Deeks had observed the house and its surrounding, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Then, Deeks had left the car, took a street map and walked through the streets where he still had not noticed anything odd. Meanwhile, Kensi had parked the car a bit further, locked it and took an alley to the backside of the house.

Deeks had taken his phone and a map, dialing his partner's number and being the actor he was so often. "No honey, listen, Eugene told me it was in here—what. You don't know? Neither do I. Listen, I will ask around." He walked to the front door, knocked on it and waited if somebody would come and answer it.  
It did not take too long until a tired looking woman, wearing a pink jogging trousers with a dark blue sweatshirt, her hair uncombed, opened the door partly, nervously looking around. "Yes?" she asked.

Deeks showed her the map and asked the woman: "You are Liz Myers, right? I'm detective Marty Deeks, LAPD. Los Angeles indeed. Please try to point at this map and listen carefully. My partner Kensi Deeks from the NCIS is in your backyard right now to talk about the parcel that was delivered before. You talked to my colleagues agents G. Callen and Sam Hanna from the NCIS before, and so did your husband. I am leaving now, after you smile at me and I smile back. I will slowly walk by, take the next road and an alley to join my partner. We can talk in there, right?"

The woman nodded and said "Lots of words mister, but I understand." Liz smiled back at him, turning her head at the map, frowned and then pointed at it.

"Thank you so much!" he happily said as he turned to the road again, grabbed his phone, redialed Kensi's number and said "Incredible but true. You were so right Fern. Now, I will be on my way."

Shortly after Deeks had called her, Tommy Myers opened the backdoor and sat down at a chair on the veranda. Partly hidden in a darker part, Kensi started talking. "Tommy Myers? I'm Kensi Blye, federal agent for the NCIS. You have been talking to my team lead, Callen, and his partner Sam Hanna before."

"I did. And I called the NCIS earlier this morning."

"You contacted Larry Clarke. He told us. Somebody called Borya Gorjajev called your wife."

"Right. What you don't know is that he called once more, telling me a woman would pick up the parcel. So, if you please come closer now, slowly and putting your hands on your head? I do have a gun pointed at you right now."

Doing the only sensible thing at this moment, Kensi did exactly what he asked. As she stepped out of the dark, slowly walking towards him, she said: "Listen Tommy. I am a federal agent and I can show you my badge. I am carrying a gun as well, but I won't be using it right now. My partner will be here in only some minutes and so will agents Callen and Hanna. Let me show you my badge, please."

"I will shoot you if you're going too fast, lady."

"I don't blame you for being careful Tommy," Kensi said. She knew that she would be able to kick away his gun before he could shoot, but decided that Myers was just cautious with a reason, and that he would trust her once she had showed her badge.  
Slowly, keeping an eye on his movements, she took her badge and handed it to him. Myers took it, looking quickly at it, sighed and lowered his gun. From further near the alley, she heard the safe sound of the unlocking of Deeks' gun.

"Sorry, agent Blye. One can never be too careful."

"Never mind. Meet my partner, Deeks," she said, as Deeks had come closer.

"I knew somebody would come. That is why I was afraid to put the materials nearby. So I put them in the trunk of Liz' car, which is parked at the naval base right now."

"Great choice," Deeks muttered. "So we didn't have to be here at all."

"About what you just said, that this mister… Gorjajev told you a woman would come for the parcel? Did he say who?" Kensi wanted to know.

"He described her. The sporty, agile type, long legs, dark blue eyes, auburn curls. Also with a Russian name, Tanya or something like that, and her last name was Newton." Myers said.

"Stasya…" Myers nodded. Kensi looked at her partner with dismay. "Can't be. Stasya? Callen has to know." She grabbed her phone. "Callen? Myers just tells us the person who'd pick up the parcel is Stasya Newton.—Calm down—You're in the street right now?—Okay, see you." She put away the phone and said "Sam is parking as we speak."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"What was that all about?" Sam asked as he heard his partner hollering on the phone. He looked at the street and found a place to park their car.

"Stasya. They told Myers Stasya would be here, to pick up the cyanide. For crying out loud, Sam, this is all so wrong, I—"  
Before he could finish his sentence, bullets were flying around.

"G! Duck!" Sam shouted, as he pulled his gun. There was no reaction from his partner.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**


	28. Chapter 28

_Thank you so much for all the reviews so far! This chapter will probably answer some of the questions you might have after reading the previous one_  
_Oh, and please remember: the way the team behaves in this storyline is only because of my imagination. Never intended so by CBS of course..._

* * *

**-28-**

He aimed and shot to where the shots came from, although the sun partly blocked his view. More shots were fired, now from the opposite direction. Then all the shooting suddenly stopped. Had he shot somebody? Sam really couldn't tell. From a street close by, he heard the load roar of a motorcycle, speeding away, followed by the screeching sound of a car leaving as fast as possible.

"G!" Sam shouted again. "Are you okay?" as he had not heard any reaction at first, nor had he heard any shooting from his partner towards where the shots had come from. He hurried to the other side of his car and was relieved to notice movement from where his partner was. Callen had been the one on the side of the car with less protection from it. The startled look on his face was what struck Sam most, even more than the bleeding slash on his temple.

"Stasya?" Callen gasped in horror. "Sam, did she really shoot at me, at us?" Despite the fact his eyes had seen it and his brain was comprehending it, he could not believe it. No way the very same exciting woman he had spent the night with, who had looked at him the way she had looked, no way she could have done this to him.

It was exactly what had been going through Sam's mind. He had talked to her, gained her trust like he trusted her.  
"Emma!" he shouted. "It must have been Emma. Still can't believe that either but… give me your phone G."

Without the usual quick throw&catch Callen handed his phone to his partner. The last number he had dialed himself had been Hugh White's and White would be the one who should know if Emma was where she should be, safe at White's place or behind her special designed desk flying drones.  
White answered the phone almost immediately and from all the background noises, Sam could hear he was in a car.  
"White, this is Sam Hanna speaking. What can you tell me about the whereabouts of Emma Sutherland?—So, she is right where she should be, at the airbase—Oh, okay. Thank you."  
Sam hung up, his face puzzled. He slowly shook his head. "So far for that assumption G."

It had taken Deeks and Kensi only a moment to reach their team members, hurrying through the Myers house to the street in front of it but they were far too late to see what happened.  
"Callen! You're bleeding!" Kensi exclaimed. "

Now she mentioned it, he remembered how a bullet had grazed his head. He then realized that it was not only because his emotions caused a whirling sensation, his dizziness could be a result of the shooting itself.

'G Callen being shot by Chris Young. Laughing stuff', he thought. The woman he fancied nearly a year ago, the one he wept about when they had told him she died, the gorgeous woman he had met again in here had shot him. Deliberately.  
Callen rationalized he should start to accept what he deep down still did not want to believe and it hurt like a bitch. The only ones on Guam besides his own team who knew his former alias Borya Gorjajev, was Igor Yerko. And Chris Young, now known as Stasya Newton. And now she worked together with this Russian? Could it be?

"Hey man, you need to be looked after," Deeks interrupted his thoughts, noticing how pale the head agent was right now.

Callen got up, using the car to support him. "I'm alright," he stated.

"Sure. You're shaking, you're bleeding and the look on your face is, how shall I say, like you're exploding. Would not want to be the one you're thinking of right now," the detective said. "You could kill with only this look, buddy!"

"Shut up Deeks. I don't need you to patronize me," he snapped.

"Hey, calm down G," Sam intervened. Deeks was right, Callen was on the edge. "You're hurt in more than one way pall. I get the feeling, she betrayed you, betrayed our trust. That's what you have to deal with right now. But you need to be patched up as well, soon, because this wound is bleeding like hell."

Now all was quiet, there were more people checking what was going on and it was only a matter of minutes when the police arrived, soon followed by an ambulance.  
One of the officers inspected the car, the other started to ask questions.

"The car belongs to Andersen. You're working there?"

"We are not, we're NCIS. And about the car? I was in a hurry and borrowed it from… a friend," Callen said, clenching his jaw as he said this. A friend. That is what he had believed. He bend his head when he was about to show his ID, but when he did, he got dizzy and nauseous at the same time.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"No he's not," Sam said. Then he shouted "Can we have an EMT here?"

"Not necessary Sam, I just need to—" Callen tried, but he knew his partner would be acting like a pit-bull from now on.

"Time to stop the bullheadedness, partner. Sit down. Want me to drag your ass to the ambulance or what?"  
One of the ambulance's attendants came running towards Sam's shouting, looked at Callen and asked "Can you walk, sir?"

The look he got from Callen was one he'd rather forget. "How do I look? Of course I can. Now you patch this up, I need to get back to work now." He hoisted himself to an upright position, using the car again as a support. He swallowed, trying to get rid of the nausea. Then finally, he accepted the supportive arm of the EMT and walked with him. "Stitching only - No sedation, that's for sure," he muttered. He hated needles, but needed to keep sharp in the meantime.

The officer turned to Sam now "Any other casualties, as far as you know?" he asked with a smirk.

"Not that I know of. I mean, we—no, I, shot to where the shooting came from, but I don't think I hit somebody."

"They were gone in only a matter of minutes," Kensi told the officer, carefully watching how the EMT managed with Callen. She felt she should be at the ready if necessary, knowing reactions of the senior agent in the past.

"It was as if she wánted to be noticed," Sam suddenly wondered. "The motorcycle… She knew both Callen and I would recognize it. It's odd, don't you think?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

**earlier**

She had had one of the best nights ever. Discovering the gorgeous body of G Callen while he discovered hers was more than plain and good sex. It was… Really making love, Chris thought. More than she had ever had, better than she remembered she ever had.  
She had felt sorry and disappointed when he had to leave, it was when they were nearly in for a third round. Having his hands touching her body everywhere made her feel vulnerable yet loved, so much that it nearly scared her.  
In the past, she had relationships. But the men she had liked abandoned her, were afraid when they were confronted with her job, did not like her independence, they had died on her or betrayed her. With this man it was… different. They had gone through an awful period of distrust, of fear and mourning, and now here they were, both alive, knowing and understanding each other's risky jobs. Chris knew she was falling in love, quicker than she'd ever imagined.  
She sighed. He had sent her back to bed, alone. And she did what he had asked, snooze a bit. Dream. Hope he would be back soon, after all, he'd promised to return the car in time.

Since most sleep had left, she decided to have a long, refreshing shower. She took one of her jeans and completed it with a blue shirt and a pair of sneakers. Then, she made herself a coffee and took some cereals for breakfast.  
A knock on her door made her look up. He was back, earlier than she thought.

Much to her surprise it was Lauren Skyler standing there. "Hey. Heard you need a ride?"

"Yep, I do. Callen took my car. Should have it back to Andersen this morning, and get my motorcycle back."

"So I've been told," the younger woman said. "So? Ready to go?"

In fact, she wasn't. Actually she was disappointed he had sent Lauren. "Sure. I was just about to have a cup of coffee, but if you're in a hurry?"

"Well… in fact I have a job to do as well."

"In that case, coffee needs to wait," she said with a smile. She closed the door and followed Lauren to her car.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

From a distance, he liked what he saw and could hear. All went according to his plan. The only thing he regretted was that they had not killed that agent, the one who he once trusted. Borya Gorjajev.  
Well, never mind. He probably did succeed at last. If nobody believed in Chris Young's innocence, once they would stop looking for her, he finally had what he had wanted all those years. Now it was time for Dmitri Vayavich to enjoy it. Enjoy having her.

And of course, he needed to get to the cyanide. But he already had thought out a great way to get to that. He might exchange the younger woman who had served purpose already for it.

* * *

_**Thank you for reading! As ever, welcoming your reviews :-)**_


	29. Chapter 29

_**Woow, you all surprised me, so many reviews on this story, never expected that! I tend to thank all registred readers, but there are so many of you anonymously reacting, so to 'Me Again', Reader, Guest and to all I forget: thank you!**_

* * *

**-29-**

"Oh, I can see you had hoped Callen was coming for you," Lauren smiled at her. "He has that certain something, don't you think?"

Although she knew exactly what the younger woman meant, she didn't feel like sharing any of her own thoughts of 'the certain something' with Lauren. So, she just nodded.

"Suppose you're tired too? This case is working on everyone's nerves I think."

Because Lauren Tyler worked for NCIS at Guam, she was one of the persons she had to work with and discussing work was safe enough to Chris. "It is. It was quite frustrating that nobody showed up yesterday night, just when we all were ready for it. Now we're nowhere closer, no clues, nothing at all," she said.

"True. And oh man, I must have misbehaved last night. Tell me I didn't," Lauren said, watching the woman next to her.

"Actually I did not pay any attention, Lauren. I was busy working, watching, acting and waiting."

"Well, I certainly hope that the mysterious mister G has not paid to many attention to it either. I'm afraid I had some drinks too many." From a plastic grocery bag she took a bottle of water. "It helps to fight any hangover signs, at least, I hope and believe. Had some water and a Tylenol earlier. Do you want some too?" Lauren asked, handing her a bottle.

"It'll do, since the coffee had to wait," she said, gratefully accepting the bottle.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"The bitch! Really? I can hardly believe that she fooled Callen like that. Playing around with him and then shoot him. I mean… Callen? Dzjeez!"  
It really surprised Deeks that something like this could happen to Callen, the legendary, the inimitable G. Callen. He had been used, played around with like, well, like… The only positive thing Deeks could think of was that Callen himself had used women every now and then just for the sake of an undercover job and now had experienced how that felt.

"Don't you éver, and I mean éver, talk about her like that with him around" Kensi hissed. "You of all people should know how it feels. Remember Nicole? Monica? Or Macaela*? In my humble opinion, your feelings got hurt as well during undercover work. So don't ever mess with Callen's state of mind."

Sam had listened to his junior partners and did not really know how to react. Not that he wanted to express his feelings, but he needed to sort out for himself what had happened. To him, Stasya always seemed to be upright and Sam doubted if anyone could fake all the time. Also, he had never seen Callen behave the way he'd done when it came to Chris Young – Stasya Newton - it was strange to think of her with that other name.  
They all had witnessed, years ago, how it was when Tracy found Callen again and only Sam knew how she had hurt his partner in the past. But seeing how devastated Callen was after he heard Chris had died was far beyond that point and Sam sincerely believed there was a certain 'something' that worked well for them.

'But than', he thought, 'what the hell went wrong?'

The buzzing of Callen's phone he still carried, interrupted his thoughts. The number on the screen was the all familiar one of the wiz-kids from ops. "Yeah, Eric?"

"Sam? I dialed Callen's number," the clear voice of Nell reached Guam perfectly.

"You did, but Callen is, ehm, not available at the moment. Tell me what you need to tell, I'll brief the others."

Instead of Nell he now heard Hetty. "Not available? Mr. Hanna. Is there anything you want to share right now? If not, I want you all in ops… Well, I mean, I want all of you back in the office of Mr. Clarke since there have been some rather nasty and unexpected developments. All of you, you hear?"

From what he could see from here, Callen was sitting in the ambulance on one of the gurneys, his back leaning to the side, feet dangling down. Instead of the usual bossing around, he noticed Callen kept his eyes closed and his face was incredibly pale, while the EMT was still working on him. Definitely not good.  
"Sure Hetty, we'll be around. Give us another half hour to prepare."

"Prepare? Puh-lease Mr. Hanna. From what I know you can be at the naval base in 10 minutes from now, so march." Even from this distance, those words from the tiny office manager sounded fearful.

Nasty and unexpected developments. What more could there be? And besides that, how on earth could Hetty know where they were? She kept surprising him.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Lauren, could you pull over please?"  
She started to feel oddly drowsy and had the feeling she needed fresh air, lots of it, to keep her eyes open. She had quite a sleepless night but she'd always been able to handle those without feeling as slumberous like now.

"What's wrong?" She heard the younger woman ask while the words came to her brain like a faraway echo, as if all of her thinking and acting was disconnected.

"I... I really don't feel okay," hearing her own words coming out slurring.

"That's exactly the way we've planned, Chris."  
Unable to keep her eyes open she realized this was terribly wrong. Then, she was out.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

In the end it had taken them twenty minutes to get back to Clarke's office. Deeks and Kensi were the first ones to arrive, asking Clarke to put out a BOLO on Stasya Newton and her motorbike as well. After that, Deeks arranged the stream with the ops computers.

Sam had been driving, careful and trying not to annoy his younger partner who was definitely in a very bad shape.

"You really think you can handle Hetty, G?"

Instead of the usual glare or his share of bantering, Callen kept his eyes shut as he mumbled "She's not around, is she?"

"No, I guess you can avoid talking face to face. That is, she will remember all once we come back."

"Uhu."

"You can hide behind me if you want."

He was glad to see a quirky smile, lifting one corner of his partner's mouth. "I'll never hide. Hetty knows whatever there is to know."

"You really think so?"

"Uhu."

So far for discussing. He really had no idea how this shooting had influenced Callen. Sure, he was literally hurt. But Sam could 'read' between the lines. Callen always had this trust issues and Sam had seen mighty walls not crumbling down, but surprisingly nearly being demolished in one single night.  
However, Sam could see most emotions were now carefully being boxed again, boxed before they were put behind large bars like the ones in Keelson's warehouse. And he, Sam, had no idea if, how or when G. Callen ever intended to re-open those boxes.

Callen was glad Sam stopped talking. He felt feeble and betrayed at the same time and he kept mulling over if something went wrong in his judgment of Chris' intentions. In fact, he could not remember he ever made bad mistakes on other people's characters, but he had to admit that HIS opponents often had trouble with HIS covers. Other people, not trained people. And Chris definitely was a professional. He was still thinking of it when they arrived at the small office at Apra Harbor.

Kensi saw them coming in and said "Yes Hetty, they are." Then, stepping back from the webcam and whispering to Callen and Sam "She wants to know why you are late."

"Miss Blye, I could ask that myself. Is there anything you all are trying to hide?"

Sam stepped forward. "Hello Hetty. You told there were some nasty developments. Now we're all here, would you care to share?"

The all-knowing smile on the older woman's face showed that, although they were not anywhere close to her, she knew. "Mr. Hanna, despite this swift and trickery switch in the conversation, I will share only after I've seen you all. So, Mr. Callen, I get that you are allright too?"

Of course there was no hiding from her anymore. "Yeah. I'm fine", he said, trying to look as indifferent as possible, leaning against the wall. "So, you can continue."

"Right. Eric?" Instead of Hetty, now Eric appeared on screen. "Callen, about what you asked? We asked for files on Vayavich. Bull's eye as it came to your presumptions. This is the prison file we have and as you will see—"

"It's Igor. Dammit."

"Mind the language, Mr. Callen. However, I do agree with your conclusion. As you all will understand, this only leads to one conclusion. If Igor Yerko is in in Dutch prison, the one who uses Yerko's identity will be Dmitri Vayavich."

He inhaled deeply, trying to keep calm. "That was it, Hetty?" As if could get any worse.

"Nearly. A word with you, please?"

It did not surprised him. "One moment." Then he turned to the others. "Kens, you and Deeks should go for the cyanide now. Find Liz Myers' car and make sure the stuff is kept behind locks from now on."

"On it!" Kensi said and both of them left.

"Yeah. I'll be outside," Sam said. And then, out of sight from the cam, he gestured 'thumbs up'.

"Hetty?" As ever, the both of them did not really need lots of instruction in a discussion.

"Mr. Callen. Could you explain why there's a bandage on your skull?"

No escape anymore. He chose his words carefully "A minor accident on the street. Nothing to worry about, I'm good."

"So, you are. I trust you'll tell me all about it, later. Now, Mr. Callen, am I right assuming you are still keeping an eye on the girl? You are aware of the 'history' Vayavich and Miss Young have."

He swallowed. "Sure".

"That is not all Mr. Callen. She had a double task as you have read in her files. Not only would she pose as Emma Sutherland, the second task Interpol assigned to her was to find out more about a possible spy at Andersen."  
She read her senior agent better than everyone else. "Mr. Callen? You asked for her files. I don't suppose there was a lack of time to do your homework?"

He reddened and was open mouthed. "Ehm… well."

The chuckle from Los Angeles reached only him, luckily. "She kept you busy. I think I understand."

* * *

A/N: For those readers who don't know Macaela: please try .net/s/8951275/1/Venus-Rising

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	30. Chapter 30

**-30-**

"She did. She does," he stammered. "About that other assignment—"

"Read the files Mr. Callen. And remember, trust your team, trust your gut feeling and I trust you all will be back in here safe and sound. Keep an eye on the girl. And as for Vayavich, there's a 'license to kill' as M would brief her best agent Bond. Tell your team too. Take care, Mr. Callen." On that, Hetty left ops.

"Callen? Voice recognition showed the same, though Hetty did not tell you, did she?"  
Much to his surprise, a worried Nell addressed him on screen. "You remember the tape of the phone call between Emma and the one possible buyer? Sam asked Eric to run voice recognition. Definitely Vayavich."

"No, she did not mention that. Doesn't surprise me though, double confirmation it is. Crap." He slowly sat down, rubbing his tired eyes and let all pass his mind again.

"Are you alright?"

Was it so obvious how his state of mind was right now? He answered "What does it look like, Nell?" Far too harshly, he then realized. "I'm sorry. No, not really as you can see. Things got messed up in here. I... We need to sort things out."

"Sorry to hear so Callen. Is there anything we can do from here?" She asked, helpful as ever.

"Phone records. I want phone records, incoming and outgoing calls of Emma Sutherland's house phone… and, well, you're looking for the cell phone already? Can you find out more about financial records too? Yes, this'll be it for now. Could you send details to Deeks' account or buzz if there's any disturbing intel coming up?"  
No matter his headache and sleep-headed feeling, he could think clearer than he'd imagined.

"Will do so Callen. And please, stay low. You look… hmm. Terrible."

"Thank you for being honest Nell. That's how I feel. Bye for now," he reacted as he then shut down the connection.

He then took the small flash drive and let his fingers play with it, once more. Probably there was more about Chris Young than he knew, and he remembered Sam had told him to ask herself. Why hadn't he done that?  
Was it because she seduced him – or the other way around, because he didn't want to change the occasion? Was it because he simply had been mesmerized by the good looks, lovely body and the mystery of Chris? She had changed, grew stronger and definitely feeling comfortable in her own skin. He'd been attracted to her, felt at ease with her, so different from his usual suspicion.  
Or was it because he was afraid to find out she was not the person he'd fancied after all? Because he'd been afraid she might fool him, play with his feelings, or worse? Because something like betrayal might happen? Or… what had seemed to have happened… Callen really couldn't tell what was going on.  
Hetty was right, as ever. He should trust his gut feeling. And his gut feeling told him enough.

Now, he should find out if he was right about her. He needed to start studying these files but he doubted if he was fit enough to do so. Even the screen had been dancing in front of his eyes. Sam could help, he would.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Is it safe to come in G?"

"Oh, common big guy, as if it ever wasn't. It is just that… well, she wanted me to know something. And I would like to share it with you, of course, since—"

The broad grin on his partner's face as he interrupted "I'm your partner, not your mother, I know, honey" made him feel instantly better. Whatever would happen, Sam would be there.

"Sure. About this," as he showed Sam the flash drive, "on it some files I asked for. Hetty ordered me to study them."

The grin left Sam's face. "Thought you were supposed to ask her."

"She's not around, is she?" Callen growled. "I was going to ask you to run through the file with me."

"Getting lazy, are you, G?"

He sighed. "It's not that. I… still feel dizzy."

"Really? Stubborn as can be G, so pigheaded. Also headaches, blurred vision? I should have known. You're probably suffering from a concussion after that bullet hit your skull. What did you tell the EMT'S?"  
Callen looked away and said "That I'd check in later." He took his duffel-bag and looked for some medicine, found Sudafed and stood up to take a glass of water.

"Exactly what I thought. Bullheaded as ever. Now give me that," Sam reacted, holding up his hand while Callen handed him the small device. "What are we looking for?"

Callen shrugged. He did not really know what he wanted to find, but once Sam opened the small 'Stasya Newton' file, he soon knew it was fake, made up. "What do you think, Sam?"

"Good job for an open file it is. Interpol? For those who don't know, it is complete. We'd better look at the other one."  
He opened 'Young, Chris', using his personal password that was needed to enter the file. "This is definitely Hetty's job. Thorough. The why-here-why-now's are all in here." Quietly, he scrolled through the pages. "Team player till early March last year," he mumbled. "Required a transfer to Interpol as a lone worker. Able to make careful risk assessments—effective planner—more than experienced in prolonged undercover operations and skilled in information gathering."  
He looked up at Callen. "Sounds familiar, an indisputable Lone wolf', but only by chance. And here: in for a double assignment."

"I know. Hetty told me. Something about finding a betrayer, a double-agent?"

"Knock yourself out G. First things first. Let's find her. She's one of the good guys, unless you suspect her to be the double-agent herself. But I don't. 'Gut feeling'."

"Encore une fois, Sam. Hetty told me. Trust my gut feel. Let's visit Hugh White. He's her contact, he should know how to reach her."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

_earlier that morning_  
The young woman had done exactly what he had asked and delivered the unconscious woman to the place he wanted. With her help he took off the jeans, shirt and jacket.  
He knew Lauren would do so much more for him, so he gave her orders what to do next. He had carried the limp body out of the car and she drove further, doing the things he wanted her to do.

Carrying her still in his arms, he had walked through the garage and then to the back yard where a tool shed perfectly hid the underground bunker. She weighed less than he thought. Feeling her warm body, sensing her bare skin against his and smelling her perfume drove him wild.  
She was all his.  
Just a few steps down now and he put her on a small mattress. He could do whatever he wanted, with her, right now. But he decided he'd wait. Wait until she was awake, until he could finally let her feel he was in charge.  
But just watching her athletic, tanned body, dressed in nothing more than a bra, a top and panties, made him hard and he needed to do something with that. For now a hand job would do... Until she was his, all his.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

It was the third phone call they made to Hugh White that day. So far, it had been some minor inquiries: asking for Stasya's phone number and asking if Emma was around at the base. This time, Sam called.

"White? Sam Hanna speaking, again. Could we come over to your office?—Some files we'd like to discuss. And we've got a car that belongs to Andersen's base, so—No, Stasya's. She's around too?—Okay. Half an hour from now." He disconnected, then shook his head.

"Nope. She's not around according to White," he said. "But we can go and visit him and we might go through the files, see if she had any place to work, bring back the car, find out if the motorbike is still in there…"

"And find her. The more I hear, the more I can't believe I thought I saw her shooting at us, of course it was somebody else. I... it must be Vayavich who set it up."  
He then looked away, slowly bending his head. Despite the fact that during most cases he could keep his emotions hidden, he feared that Sam could read him like a book right now. For once, he did not need to feel pity or to hear that he himself had be the one who should have prevented this. No matter how hard he tried, it did feel as if he was letting her down. Although he did not know hów he could ever have prevented anything of what was going on. "And you know that Vayavich has her, somewhere," he softly finished his sentence.

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder. "G, we're going to find her! Let's go now. I'll tell the kids we'll be at Andersen and to come and pick us up."

"We could leave with two cars Sam, and come back in one." He thanked his partner in silence for his remarks and easy going way of arranging things.

Frowning, Sam reacted Aas if you could drive the coastline road. Those hairpin turns will make you nauseous even without a concussion. Don't fool me G. You're sick and worried, you're feeling guilty and responsible. You know what? All goes for me too, all except the sick part. I drive, you sit."

From behind them, the voice of Lauren Skyler sounded: "You need a ride? It's not that busy in here, I might drive you."  
She must have overheard them, Callen thought. He quickly scanned his partners' face and after the nearly unseen nod he answered. "Sure that would be great Lauren. We need to get a car back to Andersen and a ride back. Sam, will you take Stasya's car?" Then, he turned and smiled at the young woman. "Last night I drove, now it's your turn. Shall we?"  
He quickly texted Kensi and told her he'd be on his way with Lauren, and on that, they left.

* * *

A/N

The feeling that Callen feels as if he'd been letting Chris down made even me feel sorry. Just when I was finding some right words, 'How to save a life' of The Fray was played on the radio. Great, fitting lyrics!

xxx

Let him know that you know best  
Cause after all you do know best  
Try to slip past his defense  
Without granting innocence  
Lay down a list of what is wrong  
The things you've told him all along  
And pray to God he hears you  
And pray to God he hears you

CHORUS:  
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice  
You lower yours and grant him one last choice  
Drive until you lose the road  
Or break with the ones you've followed  
He will do one of two things  
He will admit to everything  
Or he'll say he's just not the same  
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

xxx

Thanks for reading!


	31. Chapter 31

Thank you for your nice | useful comments on the last chapter. It took a while to continue [at least, IMO] as work & studies needed attention too :-)  
Hope you like this short chapter too!  
_**And as you all know, I just wished for once G. Callen walked in here and would tell me I could do whatever I want with him - pardon me, his character - but till then, he and most other characters belong to CBS | S. Brennan...**_

* * *

**-31-**

It was already completely dark. Strange thing that she'd been out so long. She softly moaned as she tried to get up, definitely still drowsy. A shower might help.  
Then there was sudden panic-struck that she was not in a familiar place at all and the way she got there frightened her even more.

The smug smile of Lauren Skyler when she mentioned her real name. No longer Stasya Newton but 'that's exactly the way we've planned, Chris'. We. Lauren must have been playing along with somebody else.  
Chris was glad she had texted Callen, during breakfast 'don't know about White'. He'd be looking for that clue. But Lauren, well. Unexpected. She'd thought the young woman was simply doing her job with Clarke. She was thunderstruck by the thought that Lauren Skyler did… exactly what Dmitri Vayavich wanted 'his' women to do. Lauren Skyler definitely was one of his girls and she definitely had not seen that coming.  
It terrified her to know it must be Vayavich who was in control. Maybe her sub-consciousness told her already and she sure hoped it worked that way for Callen too.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Your partner did not want you to drive because you're wounded?" Keeping an eye on the road, Lauren took a quick glance at the very good looking agent next to her. No matter what, she liked the rugged looks, his immense blue eyes and strong and a nice worked out body. He'd kept his eyed closed mostly, and looked very pale. "Wise decision of Sam, be honest. But what happened?"

For some seconds, he thought of the right words to answer her question. Then, Callen bluntly said "I've been shot at. By Stasya."  
Though for the eye, he remained unmoved, keeping his eyes closed, head against the headrest, but he managed to observe her reaction from beneath his eyelashes. Now, she kept an eye on the road all the time, her hands tensing the grip on the steering wheel.

"Stasya? Really? Hmm. I'd say she fancied you. What did you do to her that she shot at you?"

"You haven't got a clue Lauren. In this kind of work you make enemies more often than you might think. Goes for you too." He sighed. The serious headache bothered him more than he'd thought.  
Both of them were quiet for a while. Then, she asked "Why aim, fire and hit. Why not kill?"

A short and grim grin appeared on his face. "She probably liked me too much to kill me, don't you think Lauren? Or maybe I am simply good at avoiding bullets, or she's a lousy shooter."

"Well I still don't get it. Why would she want to kill you? Are you not working to find out more about that?"

"Sure. Once we find out, we'll let you know." It was not that he wasn't curious about her questions and way of thinking. It was just that he needed to think instead of talk.  
He opened his eyes once she stopped at the traffic lights when she stopped following Sam but took a different turn. "Lauren, you should follow Sam to Andersen Air Base."

"This way is shorter and quicker. Remember I've worked at Guam for a long time already, I know," she said.

"Might be so, but you don't know and I don't know where we have to be."

"It's not that important, we could ask, couldn't we? Everybody at Andersen would know White or will be able to find him."

No denying that, Callen realized. However, he preferred to keep in touch and at close range to Sam. "I'll text him. Don't drive too fast, I need my eyes to focus on this little screen, Lauren."  
Callen texted his partner: 'Body language says it all. Under control. Taking another road to base'.  
After he put the phone away, he took his bag again to look for more Sudafed. He found them and took the bottle of water he found next to his chair. "Forgot to take some water. Is it alright if I take some of yours?" he asked.

"No-well, urh, no, you'd better take some from this bottle Callen," Lauren answered, as she handed him another bottle, also partly empty.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Since what had felt like hours, Chris was chilled to the bone. She realized she hardly wore any clothes and the damp walls and floor in this dark room made her shiver as well, shivers that had not stopped.  
In the complete darkness she had measured the room she was in. There was a thin mattress in it, roughly 24 by 75 inches. To one side only some inches were left, that would make it about 80 inches. The other wall was slightly shorter. Besides the mattress there was nothing in it, no blankets, no toilet, not even a bucket. What scared her most was that there were no doors or windows. She could not stand straight up in this room and the only thing her hands could feel was a hatch in the low ceiling that she could not open. If she stayed in this place any longer it would drive her mad.  
What if this was it? The mix of fear and anger made her kick the wall and scream at the same time. "Hey! If you hear me, let me out!"

There was nobody coming to get her out of this cellar. But a little later she did hear: "Byt' tikhoy, 'Moy Angel'. Kak priyatno videt' vas zdes'" [Keep quiet, my Angel. It is so good to see you in here].

All was still dark, and hearing him speak gave her goose bumps. It really was him. The creepy, sly voice literally made her feel sick.

"I will let you out, my dear Chrissy. But only if you do what I want," he said.

No way. She was not going to do what he wanted.  
It was the third time Chris Young was close to Dmitri Vayavich. She had stopped him from doing the things he wanted to do in Moscow, killing his girlfriend and putting him in jail for some years. At that time, he lost nearly all he had: girl, freedom and lots of money.  
Something comparable happened in Los Angeles. He should have made lots of money, he should have killed lots of people, hé should have been the one to escape.  
What happened was the contrary. She had stopped him, she had forced him to close down his business in Los Angeles, and in the whole of the United States. She was the one who hurt him, she stopped him.  
So far, she had not found out how Vayavich got here, to Guam, instead of being imprisoned in The Netherlands, but she figured it had something to do with large sums of money. No way was he going to play nice on her, which was all Chris knew.

"Ty budesh' moyey, i vy znayete, chto" [You will be mine and you know it], she heard him say.  
She refused to answer. She would stay in the dark, if that was what kept her from seeing him. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, trying to keep herself warm and safe.

"And just to make sure: you will be the one crying in the end, Christianne. You know everybody has a breaking point and I will find yours. 'Byt' uveren v etom' [be sure about it]".  
She could hear it, the bitterness in his voice. It scared her, far more than it did when he showed up in Los Angeles. His urge for revenge must be enormous and she had not seen any way out, yet.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

_Thanks for reading! Love to read your reviews..._


	32. Chapter 32

**_[warning: some parts in this chapter are real nasty and include abuse. Just don't read if you don't want to…]_**

* * *

**-32-**

Sam was the first to arrive at White's office. Driving on Guam was quite a challenge, most of the roads were paved with something like an oily kind of asphalt. He had read the short message Callen had sent him and now he made his decision.  
Sam called Kensi. "Hey Kensi. Guess you found all the stuff already in Myers car? If you're done with that, we need you in here".—"Right, that's at Andersen. I'll explain later. Need to wait for Callen first."

Then he stepped inside. "White. Need you to do us a favor," he introduced himself, walking in the older man's office. The tall man got up and put off his glasses.

"This is all about Stasya, isn't it? What happened?" The worried look on his face deepened the wrinkles next to his eyes. "And I thought your partner was joining you, he's not coming after all?"

"Oh, he is. We needed to get your car back, so he's coming in another car. Since he's not in a position to drive today, he got a ride. That's why I want you to ask a favor," Sam explained. "This one is about the person who's driving him, she's a person we want to ask some questions in a, how shall I put it, in an isolated place."

"Wait. Am I correct, you want to interrogate a person who comes in here voluntary?" It was clear White could hardly believe that.

"Sure thing. Well, since we are colleagues in a way, I assume you must have some interrogation rooms in here. For what I've been told, Stasya and you both are liaised at the airbase for the Joint Terrorism Task Force Pacific, which is in a way the counterpart of our Agency. So you know how things go," Sam argued. "There are two more of our team of NCIS to come, they'll do the interrogation, but if you insist the ATAC can assist."

"Not necessary, Mr. Hanna. Just wait a minute." White left his office for some minutes only, just when Callen and Lauren entered the room.

"Hi guys. You're rather late!" Sam welcomed them.

"Thought I knew a quicker way, but you beat me to it," Lauren smiled. "So, now what?"

"I need a coffee," Callen muttered. "Everything better than all that water." He lumped down on the only chair there was which was White's.

"Still those headaches, hey, buddy?" Sam noticed. "Gonna drive by the naval hospital on our way back. Don't know what they prescribed earlier this day, but to me it seems it does not help at all."

Callen looked up. "Really? Sam… No need to go there."

"Then what do you use against headaches G," Sam wanted to know. He should have known his partner would refuse to go back. But seeing and knowing him suffering like now made Sam feel less sure about the earlier decision to just go on.

"Wanna know Sam? So far I use nothing more than Sudafed. Need to keep my head clear, we need to go on and find Chris, before… well, find her soon."

"Sudafed! I only use it if I have the flu!" Lauren exclaimed.

"Never mind. It was the only thing in my bag and it should do something I figured," Callen argued. He hated it when other people started interfering.

"G! I'm sure Hetty provided you with Tylenol or even Toradol before. Even I have them. Wait—here you are. This must do the trick, or at least help better than Sudafed."

Right before Callen could react, White entered again. "Ah, you arrived. Ehm, Sam. I found a better… conference room. Suited for 4 to 6 people," he said.

"Perfect. Callen, Lauren, shall we follow White? We need certain answers to some questions." Without giving away what he meant with that, the three of them followed the tall man. At the end of a long corridor, White gestured to the others that they could enter the room. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Water, please. And a coffee, black. Sam, same for you?" and after a nod of his partner Callen asked the girl. "Lauren, anything you'd like to drink?"

"Some water will do," she answered.

White was on his way to leave the room again, but waited when Callen said "Let me walk with you. There are some bottles of water in Lauren's car. We can finish them first." The nervous look on her face said it all.  
"Lauren? I ám getting the bottles of water from your car. I could tell by the way you behaved there's something not right with them. Sam will stay with you and ask you some questions. You'd better answer him and answer honestly."

He closed the door and walked with White. "This interrogation room, did Sam ask for it?"

"Yes he did. He told me the two of you with two of your team mates wanted to ask her some questions. I still can't figure out why this girl cooperated on this. She is NCIS too, what is going on?"

"We think she shot us, earlier this morning. At first I thought it was Stasya. But that would be very unlikely. I had just left her and ehm, well, as I said: unlikely. Since Emma and Stasya look alike, we called and asked if Emma was around, and you answered she was at the base doing her job, so it wasn't her either. Lauren however acted a bit suspicious last night before we went to that bar. She knew where we were going to be." Callen explained.

"And two more of NCIS will come to ask her questions?" White wanted to know.

"Obviously. Sam must have asked them to come here."

"He told me you were in no condition to drive. I understand now. You were hit?"

"A bullet grazed my skull. Nearly passed out and I needed some stitches. Sam thinks I have a concussion but well, all I have is a headache and I'm somewhat dizzy. But I can think clearly. Which bothers me, bothers us, is that Stasya is missing and left no clues."

"What happened, how did she disappear? Agent Hanna called and asked if she was around and if her motorcycle is in here." He poured two coffee, put it on a desk and offered Callen a chair.

"And?"

"She has not been around today, nor did she call. And after Hanna called, I tried her cell phone, but the line appears to be dead. The motorcycle she uses, a green Ducati, is not around though."

Callen sighed, carefully hiding all emotions he felt. "What is it she is working on? Does she have her own desk in here, do you share files?"

"She's been in here for, let me think, about three weeks now. The plan is, as you know, that she poses for Emma Sutherland. We can't afford to lose any expensive drones. Stasya and I share the files about this case. We informed Emma, but leave her out of any decisions we make."

"How about her personnel file? Interpol must have provided you with some backgrounds about a new liaised agent I suppose. Can I have a look at them, at all the papers you have?"

"You are aware it's classified information?" White asked.

"You are aware that I could go for a warrant and demand to have a look at the papers or take them with me."

White observed the younger man. The persistent look, the way his strong body was positioned showed a self-assured person, probably someone with more authority than he had himself. There was something more, something he sensed but could not define.  
"Not necessary of course, agent Callen. If you'll just wait in here, I'll get them for you."

Callen leant back in the chair, closing his eyes for just a second and thought back of the night before. He should ban the feeling he had for Chris right now and think of it as just one of the many cases. Easier said than done, it hit him too close to home in fact. He had never been the person to give his heart easily. To him, feelings had been going up and down like a rollercoaster, but what remained was a very special thing inside for this woman, something he could not really remember he felt before. She was not the most likely person who needed protection, but right now he knew there was no way of knowing she was safe and it made him feel very unsure, which was a very new experience to G. Callen.  
He sipped his still hot coffee and remembered the Toradol Sam handed him. He should have some of them, water or no water.

From a distance he heard his ever quarreling and bantering team mates. He raised his voice. "Kenz, Deeks, in here."

"Hey, Callen. Is Sam not around?" Deeks was surprised to see the lead agent alone in a small office room.

"He is. I wanted him to ask Lauren Tyler some questions, because we both think she's behind the shooting this morning. But with somebody else. Besides, she acted nervously about some bottles of water in her car. Deeks, can you check her car for thinks like guns, fingerprints, gunpowder, perhaps wigs and thinks like that? Maybe there's some lab facility in here. Kensi, maybe you can assist Sam."

"You can stay around Callen. I have a late lunch appointment with a friend and be right back later this afternoon," White told him, as he handed him a set of files. It would be a long afternoon, Callen thought.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The place was really great. No-one would suspect them to be around, let alone to have found its perfect hiding place that belonged to it.

"It was easy to play along, Dmitri. Although Lauren did have some problems with it. She is getting too nervous, I think."

"She has done what we had asked her to do so far. Her position changed and if they ask her again, she might tell. So now it is time you, how you say, 'get rid of her'- 'ubit' yeye'. Find a way," he ordered.

"No matter how?" he asked.

"Njet. Do it, do it soon and thorough. But first, look at this." He opened the hatch, looking down at Chris.  
"Get here", he instructed.

She blinked her eyes as the sudden light hurt and responded to his order. "Nikoim obrazom [No way]." She swallowed, knowing that he was not a person who made idle threats.

"Get out of there," Dmitri repeated and, when she did not respond, he lowered himself through the opening.  
She crawled back, though she knew there was no way to escape right now. She could try to fight back this time, but for now it was useless. Vayavich was strong and prepared. He grabbed her ankle and as she tried to break free using her hands, he quickly caught her pulses and cuffed them, then dragged her up, scraping her shoulder and hip on the rough surface.

Once he pulled her out, she found herself in another room without windows. There, he forced her against a wall where he managed to put her cuffed hands on a hook above her head.  
"Now, look at this," he said. "A wild cat which I have chased her for years and here we are. She's stunning, don't you think? 'Vse moye', all mine."

"She is perfect. Never saw her like this." White let his eyes go over her, soon followed by his touching hands, hands that tore away that little bit of clothes that were left.  
Once she felt Vayavich grip her ankles and lift her legs from the floor, she started screaming, twisting and kicking, knowing there was no way to escape from these two men. Chris knew she was helpless and powerless to stop the violation that was to come. She was terrified and desperately tried to ignore what it was she was going through.  
She did not succeed. Soon she tasted the blood in her mouth, the result of biting her lips instead of crying or screaming or cursing.  
It seemed like hours later to her when this ordeal was over. She felt her stomach churn and could hardly resist the urge to vomit. During the years of training there had been times when she and other trainees were prepared to undergo torture, but never in her life had she felt so dirty and filled with shame as she felt right now.  
And even now, there was no privacy at all, no way to hide any of her pain, disgust, embarrassment and sorrow and she could not stop her tears, nor the single sob that went with her silent crying.

Both of them simply left, leaving her ruthlessly pinned to the wall in this padded cell. It did not take long before Vayavich returned.

There was a sick smile on his face when Dmitri looked at her and said: "I told you. I will be the one who wins. I, or we, will use you, we'll see what hurts you most. Pain, humiliation, the isolation… You will break in the end, I know, my angel. Maybe if you just do what I say it's okay?"

Things could not get worse, Chris thought. So she resisted, she shook her head and refused. That's when he started to hit her, hit her until she nearly passed out. The muscles of her shoulders and arms were sore from being overstretched, she wished she could lie down and give up for now.

"A shower would help, Chrissy. I like to have my girls clean and fresh." Before she realized what he meant, a jet of cold water hit her body, hurting and making her feel so vulnerable.

"You see, I'm going to enjoy so much more of what I see and what I have in here," Vayavich said.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

All three files he went through, in the end with Sam because Deeks had quickly finished the things he needed to do so he could assist Kensi, were basic. Interpol really used the personnel file he had seen before on the memory stick. The second file was the order to White to have Emma and 'Stasya Newton' to swap places but, if necessary, have Emma do the practical work at Andersen as she used to do. Both women could be around at the same time, but never at the same place. Callen realized it would take a lot of discipline of Chris to do her job posing as the other woman, continuously having to know where Emma would be and being careful not to answer any technical questions. The third file was definitely one of White himself, reporting back to his superior about this case.

Callen knew something did not add up, but his weary mind was too tired to figure out what it was.

Sam noticed something was bothering him. "G. Take a nap. You look like crap man. We need you sharp".

"A nap?" he snapped. "Come on Sam. You don't realize how afraid Chris was when she just heard the name Vayavich when she was in LA. She beat the guy twice. If he finds her, and I'm pretty sure he already did, he's in for revenge. And you want me to have a nap? What I want is… We need to get her safe out of there Sam. The clock is ticking."

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	33. Chapter 33

**-33-**

Despite all their efforts, there were no developments or any new clues. Deeks had arranged for a lab test on the two bottles of water from Lauren Tyler's car.

"You are aware G that Lauren knew all about the cyanide that was going to be shipped to Myers. We should have brought one of those testing kits with us," Sam said.

"You're kidding Sam. Yeah, and we all should have brought one of those horrifying syringes with that hydrox-stuff. How could I know anything about water before I stepped in her car? And I don't really know for sure if anything is wrong. She's not telling and I'm not trying to taste any water ever again if someone else hands it to me."  
Sam grinned. Callen was right about that, his lungs had troubled him long enough as an effect of the cyanide but probably even more of the antidote. Accepting another bottle of water someone offered would be a real challenge for somebody with G's trust issues.

So far, the girl had not said a word about the water nor about the shooting. Late in the afternoon, White had returned to the office, offering his assistance. When Lauren still had not said a word, Callen, Sam and White had decided to leave her in custody in a real cell.

"We might ask Clarke. Maybe he knows if anything suspicious happened, something Lauren said or did lately," Sam suggested. And so the four of them returned to the naval base.  
Much to their surprise, the first step forward actually came from the Los Angeles office. It was a short message 'Traced cell phone Stasya. Coordinates are near Two Lovers Point'.

Callen needed to restrain all emotions. What if there was more than only the cell phone? Could he handle that? He had to put all his emotions behind the walls, not letting them lead or cloud his thoughts. He reasoned that emotions would influence the way he tackled new clues and eventually solved a case with his team.  
"Deeks, how does that work? If the GPS is traced, than why can't Eric activate that phone and pull all intel out of it?" Callen asked. Of the four of them, Deeks was probably the handiest one with phones.

"Eric knows the number and the GPS, but once the battery is dead he can't activate it. Let's see if we can. Kensi and I will have a look, okay? Call you as soon as we find it, get all systems started and be back in a sec!"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

She simply collapsed on the floor once he finally released her from the awful hanging position. Her legs trembled and the rest of her bruised body seemed not to belong to her.

"You must have liked that. All the girls like it. Most girls want more. I think you give me more pleasure than all the others Chrissy. We can go on, we will go on like this, what do you say, huh?" He whispered, coming closer again. "Now what, cat got your tongue?"

She was not going say anything at all, not let him lure her to show any weakness right now. No way was she going to show how disgusted she felt after she was humiliated and raped again. All Chris was trying to do now was converting her fears into anger.

Vayavich must have sensed that, stopping the repulsive talking. "Let us go to the bathroom. Quickly, 'торопить', hurry. You'd better go in there now because I don't have all day."

Despite the indignity of walking without clothes and knowing that this man watched everything she did, she desperately wanted to wash away all the dirty feelings. There was no chance to do so. She could use the toilet and some cold water to try and freshen herself up a little.

He tossed her something white and snarled. "Dress up. I want to undress you again later this night."

"Why?"

"Why what? I told you. 'Я сломаю тебе', I want you and I will break you. And when that is done, you will be my angel after all."

"No way. I will be gone before that," Chris answered. She did the trick, it worked. The anger was there, won over the fear, over the despair. No way was she staying in here as a victim, no way. Maybe she could…  
She was ready to kick him, a karate mae gheri should do the trick. Chris took a deep breath, then turned to Vayavich. A sudden sharp needle prick deleted her plans. She thought that she should have anticipated to his action, knowing he was prepared when her world turned dark, again.

Dmitri looked at the now unconscious woman. He had experienced before that she was far more dangerous than one would expect. And he knew she hated him, so he was prepared for anything she tried. Although it was true that he had followed her whereabouts, it was not only because of revenge. Against all logic, he wanted to have her, really have her, break her will and to get her compliant. Maybe he would have her to stay, his own little angel.  
He caressed her gorgeous breasts once more, then stopped and quickly dressed her, handcuffed her again, put her back in the dark cell and left.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

To Clarke all of their information came as a surprise too. He had trusted his team mate and never had suspected her to be on the wrong side.

"I shared all information that was coming in from your team. Lauren knows all about the cyanide, about Myers, about what Stasya was supposed to do on Guam. Really, if you are right, things might look bad for this case," Clarke said. Then he continued, horrified: "And beyond bad for Stasya".

Exactly what Callen did not want to hear. "Sam? What is it we're missing?"

"Can't figure it out G. What I do know is that you are far from looking okay. If Hetty were here—"

"Well she is not Sam, so stop mothering me". It was uttered sharper than Sam was used to.

"A break, G, that is all I ask. You can't go on some hours on coffee and Tylenol only. It won't help her and you know it. You're not sharp, neither am I. Let's have dinner, a fresh shower and get back in here."

The look from his partner's red-rimmed, tired eyes said it all. Sam knew Callen would never give up, but the suggestion he had made was a good one.  
"Clarke, will you stay in here, or will you be back soon?"

"Might do the same thing, Hanna. We all need a break I guess." Their colleague from Guam still was flabbergasted from what his fellow worker must have done. "Let's be back in here in an hour and a half."

Still reluctant, Callen joined Sam as they drove to the hotel. "I'm gonna have that shower first Sam, and dinner after."

"Sure G, it was my thought too. Maybe we can have some dinner outside." Hanging in boring offices was not Sam Hanna's most favorite way to spend his days.  
Once back at his hotel room, Callen admitted to himself he was beyond tired. He could go on for hours and hours as long as he was fit. Sam must have sensed it and made the right decision.  
The combination of the lack of sleep from the night before and the wound at his head had exhausted him more than he allowed himself mostly. After he had undressed, Callen had a long shower, leaning his hands against the wall and instantly feeling better when the warm water hit his neck and his back. He turned the taps cooler to freshen up too, then closed them, took a towel, found himself some fresh clothes and started to redress. He sighed, remembering the suggestion of Chris to share the shower.  
'Not now' he told himself. He really had to banish thoughts like that right now. Or should he cherish them? Yes. But not now.

A knock on the door made clear time was up, Sam was waiting for him already. Callen grabbed his phone, checked if his wallet was in his jacket and joined his partner.

"You see, you needed it G, a moment to relax. I just found us a table and called Kensi. She and Deeks are on their way back and they will join us soon."  
Another sign that he was not in his best shape. As the head agent, he was the one who usually thought about things like this. The faint smile of Sam assured him that there was no need to worry. "We're a team, don't worry G."

"Thanks buddy. Kept thinking how come Vayavich is still a step ahead of us. He should be around somewhere, but where?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Slowly she had regained consciousness again, realizing she was in the dark cellar once more, handcuffed and dressed more than she had been before. Not that it helped though. She was chilled to the bone yet she knew that the chills that seemed to control her body and the cold sweat were not only from the cold, but because of a fever. She had lost all sense of time.  
Maybe Vayavich was right. Maybe there was no way out of here. Once she would feel better, she would try to escape again. Chris tried to think clearly, but her weary mind troubled her too much. She was exhausted, thirsty and cold. She tried to curl up, desperately trying to get warm.

Drifting in and out feverish naps, she woke up from angry voices nearby. The hatch above her in the cellar was opened and she was roughly dragged up.  
Before she could focus well enough, someone slapped her face.

"You bitch. You knew. Who else knows, who was the one you texted?"

White. He must have found out she suspected him to be the one that really was behind the sale of drones. It was only the hint of him making a call when she had been at the office. The simple fact that he was now around Vayavich had said it all, and in one way or another he now knew that she had texted with her phone.  
But than if he knew what it was she had texted, how come he did not know it was to Callen's phone? Callen knew. He would get to White. He would come for her.

She shook her head.  
Without any warning he punched her in the stomach. As much as she wanted to keep it together, it hurt so bad that she screamed out loud. There was no way she could protect herself as her hands were cuffed behind her back. She remembered she once told Callen that pain would not kill you. Pain was just a temporary thing. How long would temporary be?

"Who?" he shouted again, "was it Clarke?"  
Again she shook her head, this time trying to prepare for another punch. It came in harder than she expected and her left shoulder seemed to explode with pain and so did her stomach. Chris tried to keep breathing but the pain was too much.  
She winced as she saw his fists come closer again.

"стоп, Stop!" The command made Hugh White look up. "You don't get it Dmitri. Somebody knows I am involved and I need to know who. She has to tell me."

"She won't." He cupped her face. "You won't, 'u vas net', will you Chrissy? Too stubborn. You could have prevented the pain, 'moy angel'. I know who you warned. Borya. Or should I call him Callen?"

"That agent? Damned. The bastard." White exclaimed.

"Nothing to worry about. Figured out already how to get rid of him."

Her sharp inhale of breath made him smile. "Yes Chrissy. That hurts. I know. I observed you, you see, and I must admit you are a good couple. Or should I say, you were a good couple?"

Again, Vayavich was the one to cut her loose. This time it was White who rudely pushed her back into the black cellar. Was it the pain or the sudden fear for Callen that hurt most?

* * *

_**Thank you all for reading. Please let me know if you liked this chapter. There are only some chapters left to this story...**_


	34. Chapter 34

**You all know that I only 'use' the NCIS LA characters for the storyline; all characters in this story belong to CBS. All, except the ones you'll never meet on screen… **

* * *

-34-

It took a while for Deeks and Kensi to join them, but even before they really arrived Sam and Callen heard them coming.

"Oh please Fern. Calling Eric to call the LAPD to call the locals in here and still they don't know what to do or say? What kind of place is this? Really, the Los Angeles jungle suits us so much better."

"It suits you better. In the end I got what we wanted, so thank me. And I'm pretty sure they won't forget us," Kensi smiled at her partner, right before she greeted their senior partners. "Hi guys. This is the one." She put a cell phone, still sealed, on the table.

"And?" Callen asked.

"And what? This is what we needed, the phone of Stasya Newton. Found it near 'two lovers point' which sounds terribly romantic, but Kensi did not want to share views and feelings with me tonight. Maybe later, huh, Fern?"

"Activate it now, Marty. I'm not really interested in your romantic thoughts at the moment," Callen murmured. "If you activate it, Eric can try and get a list of numbers she called, texts she sent or received, numbers that—"  
Before he got the chance to finish his sentence, Callen's phone buzzed. He took it from his jeans, expecting a call from the LA office. The message on screen was a complete different one, however.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

How long had she been there, back in the dark? She really could tell. The only thing she felt was the cold and moist that surrounded her and the way her body responded to it, feverish and tired as she was.  
The white dress that Dmitri Vayavich had put on her did not really help her to get any warmer. Just as she dozed off, she woke up again because they pulled her up and out of the black room.  
Chris screamed as her left shoulder ached when White pinched her cuffed hands far above her head. Not only were all muscles overstretched from being hooked upon the wall earlier, he had hurt it severely when he had punched her shoulder in his anger. She thought she knew what was coming next and tried to prepare. Chris remembered how she once told Borya, Callen, to meditate. Just keep breathing in, deeply. And you breathe out, slowly. Try to imagine you'd be on a great trip to let's say Fiji, find a place deep down where you feel at peace. She could do the trick herself if she needed to.

"Now, 'moy angel', now behave this time. Be brave so we can surprise your boyfriend with a lovely home video. You are going to tell him exactly what I want."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Still discussing the startling message Callen had received and how this might have effected all things they had done and found out by now, Deeks' phone rang.  
He answered "Deeks—Yeah, the same one—Right. Could you repeat that once more?—Okay. Keep us in touch. Thanks."  
After he disconnected, Deeks looked up.

"They found a green Ducati earlier tonight, Callen," he announced, more careful than they were used to hear from him. "It, ehm, it must have crashed one of poles near the road, probably on the road from 'Two Lovers Point' to the Cetty Bay Overlook point. They are now searching the area for the driver."

Callen dreaded the moment he would find out anything that would turn his world upside down. This case was getting on his nerves and although he knew that, he could not walk away from it. He had to try and keep himself detached from his personal feelings and stay objective.

"G, you're good? I mean, we all know—"

Callen looked at his friend. "Sam, no need to go there. Yes, I'm okay. They won't find Chris in there. If Vayavich has her, and I am pretty sure he has, he wants her to perform differently. He'll never kill her on purpose just like that," he said decidedly.

"You talked about revenge earlier. I was there and saw what Chris Young did to Vayavich back there in Los Angeles. Callen, what will he do to her?" Kensi asked.

He ruggedly got up. "Everything what you think he can do. Use your imagination," he snapped, unable to keep up his usual calm pose. "All finished dinner? We'd better get to Clarke's office and get this case closed."

"Find the girl, get the baddies and get back where we belong. LA jungle, I'll gladly come back!" Deeks exclaimed. "Let's go guys!"  
In one way or another, he always managed to get them all release some tension.

Clarke was already at his office waiting for them. "Tell me, what can I do right now?"

"Well, there are some new developments we want to share with the LA-team," Sam answered. "You'd better listen, we'll plan later."

Again, it was Deeks who connected their system to ops. There were so many questions they needed to have answered and preferably soon. Much to their surprise, both Nell and Eric were working and it was Hetty who appeared on screen.

"White? Goodness me. Mr. Callen, if the girl was right—"

"We have no reason to doubt that she must have found out something, Hetty," Callen interjected. "And White was the one who asked for her, from his base drones were demanded. Combine it to the threat of loading a drone with cyanide and have it send off into one the larger water basins or water purification centers in let's say Australia, Japan or Russia and some crisis occurs. From such a crisis rich mob bosses, or Vors, may benefit. Vors like Vayavich."

They all were quiet for a while, reflecting on this quick way of summarizing they were used to hear from their team leader.

"But Callen, the cyanide is safe, no way can somebody use it." Clarke reasoned.

"Guess we're lucky Myers already put it away safely," Callen concluded.

"Guys. Wait wait wait…" Eric started to hit some more buttons frantically. "Incoming message on the cell phone of Stasya Newton." He then mumbled, quickly scanned and looked up again. "Message contains a url to what seems to be a vid. Hetty?"

"No need to expect anything like 'Toddler's Truce', Mr. Beale. We're trained agents, aren't we?" Hetty answered. "What the heck, play the vid!"

The simple fact that somebody knew how to trigger him, trigger the team, by sending a message to the phone they knew that they possessed, made Callen feel sick beforehand. The message itself was even worse.

_-Hello Borya, or shall I call you special agent G Callen? I know you will be the one who will receive this special recording. You see, I know so many things about you by now. Watched you like I watched this 'milyy angel moy posledniye neskol'ko mesyatsev' [sweet little angel of mine the last few months]. I even have this 'glamurnyye kartiny', this glamorous picture of the both of you. Now, I know you will like to have you girl back, G Callen. And moy angely, you know what I want you to say. Do it_! -

On screen now was Chris. Although they all noticed bruises on her pale yet feverish burning face, she looked into the camera perfectly straight. It was clear that despite she looked very fragile, they still had not broken her spirit.

-_Callen? They want to make a deal. A trade. Cyanide in and get me out_.- She coughed before she continued. – _You have to get it to the place Emma is_. –

-_She is right. I want a trade, let's say for tomorrow at 10 AM. I know you will make it and you know where I want it: Emma's place_–

On that, the video stopped. They all were quiet, looking at their lead agent, understanding how bad he probably would feel. Heck, even they were.  
Leaning against the wall, Callen kept his face expressionless. He controlled the anger, still able to bottle it, not wanting the others to see the anguish he felt.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"Oh, Chrissie. I had so much fun about the address. Do you know where you are living? Mongmong, it is the sound of a heartbeat. Toto means to recline and Maite means to nudge or touch another person with one's hands or other parts of the body. I use them all on you. All is so well planned. Bet your boyfriend does not know the meaning of it that either. His 'Mongmong' will stop aftere we meet him in there. So far, you are on your own and you know you will be abandoned, 'zabroshennyy', in the end?"

The last sentence he'd said kept coming back. Abandoned. 'Nee, stop thinking like this'.  
She had tried to put in some extra words, some clues that might trigger Callen and Sam. Chris hoped they would get them, despite her feeling so terribly weak she hoped they had been obvious enough, but she really couldn't tell. She had warned him already, didn't she?  
She really needed to get a bit stronger and start to think clearer. So far, she did not see any way out. Not like this, she would need a hand to get away from Vayavich. When White had hit her it was as if something broke, maybe a rib? Maybe. She could not really remember.  
Something inside her felt very wrong. Her entire body was aching by now and she tried to hold herself together.  
However, the shivers were unstoppable by now. Chris knew it was a fever that was hitting her hard, but what worried her most was the fact that breathing hurt. And the rattling coughs that now came caused severe pains, and made it more and more difficult to inhale air. The sudden tremble of her body made her moan.  
Soon she was drenched in sweat, going from being too cold to boiling hot. She needed to lay down and close her eyes, the effort to keep them open was just too difficult…

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

They had discussed the planning, this time a straight forward plan with one scenario only, starting from early next morning on.

"And what if White knows you know? What if he suspects that you wear a camera and a transmitter, what if—"  
"Stop it Sam. All the what-if's in the world won't do us no good. This is how we should do it!"

The way his partner reacted did not make Sam a happy camper. He had a bad feeling of what was to happen next.

* * *

After this one, there's only one last chapter to come. Hope you liked it? **_Please let me know!_**


	35. Chapter 35

A/N 1 Had expected to finish with only one more chapter, this one. Who have I been kidding, myself? Probably...  
A/N 2 Just in case you're worried: No, I don't own NCIS Los Angeles. Nor the characters. Would want to, but credits are all to Shane Brennan and/or CBS! So, just enjoy MY little story...

* * *

-35-

"Sam, I know you don't like the idea. But it's this simple: we cannot afford any time consuming planning. The longer we wait, the more chances of things going wrong," Callen argued. "Besides, you'll have my back, you can stay close by, and it will be easy to follow me."

Once more they talked over the plan; Callen would go in to Stasya's place which was in fact Emma's house. There, he would exchange the barrel of 'cyanide' for Chris. And if anything went wrong, they were able to follow both Callen, since he'd be wired and would be wearing a button-cam as well and the barrel, in which they had hidden a small GPS-tracker.  
The barrel he'd take with him, came straight from one of the submarines based in Apra Harbor and had been used for keeping rice dry on board. There still was lots of rice in it, but on top of it they had put loads of table salt. Not their idea, it was used by Fryman beforehand. However, it had been quite a challenge to find that much on Guam.  
Since they all were tired by now and they knew they had to perform effective. Staying up, going on like they were, would not help them.

Now all was ready for the next day, it was again Sam who suggested they all got some sleep. "We'll all be back in here at 6 AM, okay?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The headache came back and hit him hard, in the car back to the hotel. Callen knew that he needed to keep his head in the game. Once back in his room he realized how much he needed just some time on his own. Being around others at a place that was not theirs was no problem, neither was being around with others.  
But for both situations he knew that he could not do that constantly. Sam must have a sixth sense for it, he knew exactly how many hours one could stand company in a strange place. Probably a Seal's rule, one of the many Sam lived by.

Callen took another Tylenol and decided he needed some fresh ocean air before he'd take another refreshing shower.  
Something that Chris had said nagged him ever since he heard it. She had not said 'Emma's place' but 'the place Emma is'. Sure, Chris was a Dutchie, but her English was just as good as his. Would it be another hint to White? After all, Emma was to stay at White's house during the time Chris would pose as Emma. Was there anything else Emma would know?

Knowing what was at stake to get Chris back, made him rethink the plan they made. Come to think about those words and finding out about it gave him a sudden burst of new energy. All he needed to do was to contact Emma. She might even be a great help. Eric or Nell would have her cell phone number because it was in her apartment phone and he had asked for a list of all connective calls. From Emma's place they had accidently tried to contact her. Callen wished he simply could walk up there, but that would be 'Emma's place' and for all he knew, Vayavich might watch it by now.

"Nell? Need you to do me one more favor. One of the last numbers dialed from Emma Sutherlands' place was to a cell phone. Could you give me that number please?—Yeah. Wait, just punching it now.—It works, so thank you!"

Emma answered her phone nearly immediately. It took only half a minute to arrange a meeting. She'd pick him up from the Marianas.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He had allowed her another short stay in the bathroom. The cool water she could drink and splash into her face made her feel a bit better, a bit fresher. However, it did not take away the fevers or the pain deep down in her abdomen.

"Dmitri, I need medications. Something to drink. A shower," Chris pleaded.

One of his grim smiles was all she got as an answer.

"I won't be any good without that and you know it."

He came closer, far too close and rudely grabbed her hair and made her face him. "И кто сказал, что я нужен послезавтра, мой ангел? [And who said I will need you after tomorrow, my angel?]"

She closed her eyes, tired, in pain and not wanting to show him her despair. So, would this be it?

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Callen looked at the woman next to him. Yes, from a distance Emma looked like Chris. But she was more a shy type of girl. Shy, tame… Far less energetic, more plain, no mystery. How odd, he'd never have the same feelings for this Emma Sutherland.  
Chris had a certain extra, she was full of life, strong-willed, untamed. He remembered her dazzling smile of the night before. All of that, plus the ability to show the softer side of her personality. And he wanted that back, he wanted her back and he'd fight for that.

"Emma? You're staying at White's place, right?" he asked.

"Yes. He suggested so. Stasya agreed to it as well. They worked together, like he had asked for. And I still work like I always do."

He sent her an encouraging smile, wanting to hear so much more about White, knowing if Chris had been right. "How about White, will he be around now too?"

"Mostly in day time. But he has a friend who came over some weeks ago and spends lots of time with him too."

"Uhu. You know where this friend is staying?" Callen asked, curiously.

"Not really. I mean, Hugh told me there was no room at the Mariana's, nor in his house. I think there was, I mean, there are two more spare rooms in his house! Well, from what I know he is staying in one of the safe houses on Guam," Emma answered.

"Any idea how many safe houses there are? Do the Naval and Air Base use the same ones?"

"Yes, from what I know they share and the one he uses is close by I think. He sometimes leaves for only one hour. Today he's been there twice and needed some more time, but it can't be far I think."

Callen mulled over the information. He could ask Clarke for assistance, but maybe the man was tired. The quickest way was to ask Eric. The safest way was calling Nell. This time, he did dial her personal cell phone, so he could avoid talking to Eric or – even worse – to Hetty.

"Nell! Another question, is there a very quick way to find out how many safe houses for the alphabet soup Guam has, near Andersen or near the Paradise Estates?—Sure, if it won't take too long. Call me back as soon as possible, okay?"

His phone buzzed only three minutes later. It had taken Nell this little time to send four addresses to his phone, together with a short but very useful message: 'none of them should be used by now. Take care'. Callen texted back 'Thanks Nell'.

"Say, Emma, would it be possible for you to use some heat detection drones to find out if anyone is around in any of these houses?"

"No drones as I usually use, but we do have some smaller ones at the base, small heli's for thermal infrared search. But I'm not too sure, you know, I mean, I can get in trouble with that if White—"

"Never mind White. I'm the one who asks and I'll be the one who will keep you out of trouble. Besides, it's a 'no need to know' for White. I simply need your help, Emma," Callen said. He knew she would help him, eventually.

"You know it's not allowed to use them like that. It's the Fourth Amendment, I mean—"

"To hell with any amendment! Emma, I need to act fast. I've reason to believe Stasya is being held against her will in one of these houses and I want to get her out of there before any nasty things happen. You're the only one who can do this right now, so will you please?"

For Emma, the combination of the worries she read in his beautiful blue eyes and the smile he sent her, were enough. From one of the warehouses, she collected a small stealth looking device with a remote control. "Come with me and have a look," she said.  
Once they arrived and she sat behind her desk, Callen was surprised by the way her behavior changed. She was serious and completely focused.  
"It's not the remote we're using, but I am going to connect it to this screen and fly it with my mouse. All media will be recorded this way too, I mean, there's always evidence left," she explained. "Now, let's go and see what we can find out."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"A shower, hèh? Well I must admit, 'Вы выглядели лучше, сексуальнее', you have looked better, sexier. What is wrong, 'Moy angel'?"

Chris felt so feeble she could cry. She could not remember having been in such a bad shape. She breathed in, which made her cough and it hurt terribly. "A fever. I need some medicine and something to drink."  
"You're already giving up, Chrissy? Njet, you will need to get a bit stronger again. I prefer you like a cat. Get in shape. Da, you will have a shower," he said and on that he unlocked a door and guided her up a stairs until they entered a kind of shed.  
From there, they crossed a garden before they entered the backside of a house.

Once inside, Chris collapsed.  
Despite the fact she hated Vayavich, she was grateful he simply let her lay there and that he came back with a glass of water, some fruits and Advil. She took the water and Advil, then ate a banana.  
"The shower?"

"You don't think I'll let you go alone, do you?"

Chris hoisted herself up, avoiding him to do that. Every sudden movement hurt deep inside, and she hoped she'd feel just a bit better after cleaning herself and after the medication would help.  
The house looked strangely familiar, but she had not figured out why until she entered the bathroom. All of it was equipped like a house she had stayed in in Germany. A safe house.  
Vayavich unlocked the cuffs and with that, her shoulders hurt even more. All muscles must have been stretched, overstretched, from being dragged behind her back or worse, above her head and it made her moan.

The shower ended quickly. Chris tried to deny the fact Vayavich was watching and waiting. She took the towel, dried herself and slipped into another white sleeveless, short dress.

"Done moy angel? I see you prefer the other place. Let us go back, now!" Before she got the chance to refuse, he handcuffed her again, this time in front of her which hurt just a little less.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

"There!"  
Emma was the first one who noticed that in the second house, near Paradise Estate, some persons were moving and pointed at the screen.  
It looks like two persons in the house—now moving to the ground floor. Must be a kitchen and—"  
Callen interrupted. "Emma, how far is that from here?"

She looked away from the screen, disturbed and Callen understood she was not used to be disturbed often. "Ehm, I think about a quarter of an hour? Yes, something like that, I must be."  
He was up on his feet already. "I'm going in there. Can I use your car?"

Surprised by his hurry, she nodded. "Do I have to keep you posted on any changes?"

"Please do so, Emma."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Speeding up made Callen arrive only 12 minutes later, guided by the navigation system in Emma's car.  
"Any changes, Emma?"

"They have moved from the first floor back to ground floor again. And," she paused for some seconds, "I can see you have arrived by now. Go to the left, then you are close by Callen!"

She could see him closing in, quickly. The two other persons now left the house and were even clearer on her screen. The person in front appeared to be smaller and came in clearer than the one behind. A difference in body temperature perhaps.  
Emma noticed Callen stayed close but continuously at the same distance from the other two. Playing safe, she thought.  
Then, the first two persons entered another building. A small one, kind of a summerhouse.  
"Callen? It's a summerhouse, something like that?"

He did not react, which was not that strange of course. Talking might give away his presence. Emma did see he paused just a little and then moved forward. And then, all three persons suddenly disappeared from her screen. It was odd, all three persons she saw around were gone with only one blink of the eye. Emma tried again, rebooting the system. Nothing. No sign, nothing.  
She started panicking. No way had her system failed her. Something was wrong. Emma decided to call Hugh White.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Callen had followed both persons in the plain dark. They kept the same pace, did not talk and were far from moving fast. Definitely not persons who were expecting any trouble.  
Right in front of him, they entered a kind of shed, or summer house as he heard Emma mention it. He waited a little, not knowing what to do now. Nobody lid a fire. Should he call Sam? Would he be really close to Chris, and how would he know? If so, it would be her and him against one more person.  
Callen was convinced he could move on his own.

* * *

Yes, I do agree. The guy is stubborn as ever again. Even I did not manage to get him back to his team before going in alone!  
_**Your reviews are welcome as ever!**_


	36. Chapter 36

Yes, this is the very last chapter indeed. Even I feel sorry that the story came to an end! Thank you so much, all of you, for reading & reviewing. I tried to thank all those readers that are logged in, but never said 'Thank you so much' to all the readers/guest that encouraged me to go on.  
Well, here it is, to you: Thank you!

Thank you too, CBS & Shane Brennan, for having me use G. Callen and his team in this storyline.

* * *

**-36-**

He still did not know. As far as he had seen, there were two persons and it was only in a flash Callen thought he recognized Chris. He could handle only one capturer, but so far he knew not if there were any more.

"Emma?" He needed to know what it was she saw. "Emma?" In one way or another, he did not seem to reach her. Being a seasoned agent, it worried him just a little. Working on his own never bothered him. Actually, he'd done that for years and only recently, he had worked undercover far over two months without the immediate backup of his team.  
Still, Callen was never reckless and if it was Vayavich in there with Chris and if he wanted him in custody, he simply needed evidence and manpower. He sighed. It would take at least over half an hour before Sam, Kensi and Deeks might be around to help him.

He took his phone and decided to call Sam. Deep within, he smiled, knowing his partner and best friend would not take it too well to get called out of his first hours of sleep. Nor would he be happy to know Callen was already out on his own. As ever, Sam would lecture him about his 'lone wolf tendencies'. Well, he'd have to cope with that, he thought.  
Right before he had the chance to press the predialcode, he heard the smallest of noise behind him. Just too late to react and something hard hit his head and he got knocked out.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The shower, the fruits, beverage and Advil helped but Chris sensed it would not be good enough. By the time she had to walk to the small house in the back garden, the shivers were back again and breathing hurt so much that she was afraid to breath in deep.  
How was she going to get away from this place if she felt like this?

Rudely, Dmitri pulled her down the hidden place again. "Now, you and I should have some fun again. I'm sure you feel up to that, 'moy Angel'"  
She was nearly fainting as he pulled up her cuffed hands up at the same place to the wall, screamed but nearly felt too weak to resist. "Please, no more", she tried.

The alarm that sounded in this underground bunker made Vayavich stop from what he wanted to do.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The phone on the bedside table rang some times before Sam finally realized it was his phone in real life. When he was in this second phase of sleep, Sam had trouble to wake up. At home, Michelle had more than often woke him so he'd be in time to rush to the office, to pick up Callen or to be at the incident scene in the same pace as his team were.  
This time, his sleepy mind had some trouble. The number that appeared at the display was not one he recognized.  
"Hello?"

"Mister Hanna? This is Emma Sutherland. I think there's something going on that is not right. I mean, agent Callen—"  
Suddenly very alert, Sam interrupted. "Callen? What about him?"

"Well, it seems to me that he disappeared. It's odd you know and I called Hugh who is about to find out as well. Maybe—"

"Crap Emma. You sent White to find Callen? Where?"

Sam was already standing next to his bed when he had asked Emma to keep trying to gather vids and to share it with Eric and Nell. Luckily, he knew their numbers by heart.  
As soon as he disconnected the call of Emma, he called Kensi and Deeks so the three of them could go and find the hardheaded, inalterable team leader who might be in more trouble than Callen himself might realize.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Maybe she had passed out for some moments. It had been quiet for some time in Chris's opinion. Then, there was his grim voice again. "Surprise-surprise! Such an unexpected visitor Chrissy-girl."

Weak as she was, she opened her eyes and much to her despair, she noticed an unmoving, handcuffed Callen who slowly started to regain consciousness. They had put some ducktape over his mouth.

"No!" She gasped.

"Yes, dear. Maybe he'll like to watch, we don't know but we'll soon find out."

"No, you would not", she stated. Then, Chris started panicking as White came closer and grabbed her hair. "How did you manage to get him in here, with help of Emma? Are you wired, again?"  
Then he scowled at Vayavich and started yelling. "You have checked on her, haven't you? Dammit, she's fooling you Dmitri. And now all your plans are ruined. No way can we trade her for the cyanide right now. It is at the base, I know, but I suppose they all know by now we work together. All because of this keen bitch". On that, he punched her hard in the stomach, so bad Chris could not breathe. There was no way she could curl up like her body shouted for. She closed her eyes and moaned, trying to control her breathing once again. When she finally opened her eyes, she noticed Callen was angrily moving, not able to do anything though.

"Stoj! We will find a way. We should get rid of this agent, 'da, Borya? Вы знаете, девушка теперь моя.', you know the girl is mine now," he said in a sly voice. "But you can watch first, you know she's a good fuck."

'Hell no…' Unable to do anything with the ice cold anger that raged through his body, Callen was nauseous by what he heard and from what he knew was inevitable by now.  
"You can't do that! No-no-nooh!"

Hearing her beg, cry and suffer was heart wrenching. For once, Callen felt completely helpless. He could close his eyes but would never get rid of the bitter ill-feeling of this moment.

Both men raped her, again. Her cries had ceased, there were only the silent sobs that were even worse. "Liked it, moy angel? Did you like you boyfriend to watch? Now you watch, because it is time to say goodbye."

White had pulled his gun and carefully aimed at a defenseless Callen.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Emma had guided them to the house and they had speeded, feeling that things got really nasty with Callen nowhere in sight.  
Guns drawn, at the ready, they ran quickly to the summerhouse in the garden. Counting down on three, Deeks opened the door, on which an alarm started to go off.  
"Go-go-go!" Sam gestured, and the three of them backed off and left the place immediately.  
It did not take long before the noticed a large man coming out from a small door, hidden behind a cupboard. White.  
Deeks could cope with him. Well, with a little help of Kensi who swiftly kicked the tall man in the crotch which should hurt extra at this moment.

Carefully, Sam took the same door as White had used, not prepared though from what misery he found.

"You are going to be the one to decide, mister," a soft voice came from the dark. "You don't know but I've got a gun pointed at both your partner as on the girl. There's one of them who'll die immediately and the other, well, might go straight after."

"After you." Sam bluffed and he was well aware of that. In this dark and black place, his eyes had no time to adjust, it simply would not work. For once, he and Kensi, who was right behind him, were completely blind indeed.

"Sam, he's aiming at Callen!" Chris shouted.

There was one shot in the room. Two more followed.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

Someone talked to her, and from farther away she heard voices that sounded slightly familiar. Voices of people she knew she should trust. Trying to focus wore here out.

Some small drops of warm rain fell on her face, and there was the comforting feeling of a cool hand gently brushing away the curls that were plastered to her face with sweat from her forehead. It made her eyes tear. No need to be afraid anymore. She tried to breath in the fresh air now, but the pain inside her body was too great and she drifted back into the feverish dark.

To Deeks it was a kind of a flashback. Again, a bullet wound and again, it was Chris Young who had been shot. Not as bad as before but she was looking terribly right now. With his experience as a LAPD detective, he had seen women after they had been brutalized and raped and he could only guess what she'd gone through.  
What shocked him even more was the fact that Callen was crying when he held her.  
The head agent always seemed to be in control over his feelings, hiding things he did not want others to know or see. This raw emotion was a complete new thing to Deeks and for once, he was quiet.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The team had come back to Los Angeles earlier, except for Callen. He had wanted to stay with Chris, even though she was unaware of that. He even had his wounds checked, because of the earlier head wound and the hit on his head after that. A minor concussion, that was all.  
Her condition was far from good. A broken rib had perfused a longue, the one that had been punctured before and which was already bothering her. Both shoulders were dislocated and the left clavicle was broken.  
Worse were a damaged kidney and a ruptured spleen. When she finally was allowed to be transported, it was to Los Angales as well.  
Hetty had arranged a place at the Cedars-Sinai, at the same security level that she used for her agents, if necessary. She was not ready to leave a hospital yet. Drifting into deep sleeps, her body was working hard to fight infections. There was progress in it, definitely.

After some days, Dr. Lee had decided to change medications, so that Chris would be more awake. Unfortunately, she reacted to them the same way Callen did. There were nightmares. That was what Callen had noticed, and he had decided to help her to fight them.

It was during one of the lunch breaks when he and Sam had paid her a visit that she was completely awake and completely panicking.  
When Callen tried to calm her down, it was Sam who discovered that her nightmares became theirs.  
Next to the flowers on her bedside table, there was a card that had said 'thanks for the good times, moy angel'. I win'.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The very tiny woman who sat next to her bed was dressed in a bright, white suit with a large brooch. She quietly drank from a cup, obviously enjoying the hot beverage in it. From behind the glasses, there was a wise and knowing look.  
"So, how are we feeling today, Miss Young?"

Chris had not seen the woman before. The physician she talked to before was a male and dressed as a physician. He had told her that after spending one full week in the naval hospital in Guam, where she had nearly spent all time in a sleep, she had been transferred to Los Angeles, where she was now.

"You may call me Chris, Doctor."

The eyes of the woman smiled at her. "Oh, but I am not your doctor, Miss Young. No way would I have the skills nor the patience for that. I was asked to come and see you. So, tell me, how are you feeling?"

"The pain is still there, but it's bearable."

"That is the physical pain. How about the rest?"

"I've talked to a shrink in here. You haven't shared files?" Chris was not too sure about how she was dealing with the rest of what happened. She'd have to deal with it, but sharing was not one of the things she wanted to do."

"As I said, Miss Young, I am no doctor. What I do for a living is sending my teams of agents everywhere they need to be."

"You're NCIS too, like Callen and Sam?" Never had she imagined a handler looking like this woman.

"It surprises you, I can see that. Yes, I am. I'm in charge of the Los Angeles operations and the boys, with Miss Blye and detective Deeks are the best team I handle. Now, what you've gone through was a terrible ordeal. Not everyone is able to handle that."

"Have to. There's nobody else to handle it for me."  
It sounded harsh to Hetty. This young woman was a loner, used to deal with what life threw on her. Of course Hetty had read files, probably even more than Miss Young knew that existed, about her life and career. Though she did grow up in a normal family, her parents split up when she was young and her mother died soon after. No real attachment to the father and the brother since she'd gone to a boarding school in the states. Hopping from job to job without getting too attached.

"I was so afraid that I could never get out, and then there was Callen. I wanted to feel safe. Instead of that, he—I was—And he had to watch. I can imagine he left."

Hetty frowned. "He left? What makes you think that, Miss Young?"

She shrugged and her gaze drifted away from the investigating eyes of the older woman. "He's not been around the last couple of nights."

"Mr. Callen visits you at night?" It surprised Hetty, yet it was so typically the way Callen acted. She knew he came to visit this woman at lunchtime every other day, if there were no ongoing cases.  
"I can feel he's around. It's not that he's talking all the time, but," and she reddened now, deciding that she could trust this very small but wise woman, "he, ehm, he helped me getting through some bad nights."

"Chase the nightmares," Hetty concluded. Who would know more about those nightmares but Callen? "How bad is it, dear?"

Again, Chris shrugged.

From what she had heard and seen and from what she could conclude from that, Hetty had to acknowledge that the young woman came back from Guam in pieces. Beaten, bruised, and broken. Callen had been forced to witness some of the violence and notwithstanding they all knew that, he'd refused to talk about it either.

A deep sigh was followed by a series of serious of coughs that Hetty knew must hurt. When they finally stopped, she worriedly asked "Alright now? I could call for a nurse, maybe you need some medicines for—"

The way the younger woman interrupted, her eyes hardening and her voice sounding colder, reminded Hetty of Callen himself. "No medicines. I want to sleep."  
Hetty then put her hand on the other woman's arm. The warmth of the touch brought tears in Chris' eyes.  
"I understand, Miss Young. Along with the medicines, the nightmares are unescapable. But without them, the pain will keep you awake and your body needs to heel. It can only heel from rest. One of my best agents suffered from severe nightmares some years ago, I shall ask the physician if he can prescribe some drugs that will do the trick."

"Thank you," she whispered. "Was it Callen, with the nightmares?"

"Yes, dear."

"I hope they're gone by now. He doesn't sleep well." Then she started crying. "I remember how happy I felt and it seems like ages ago. He—we—well, I finally had the guts to tell him and show him how I feel. And I wished the feeling was still there. But he has left, Miss Lange, and I can't blame him. He should be happy, find someone who has not been—"

Now it was Hetty's turn to cut off the words of the other woman. "Mr. Callen is on a mission, Miss Young. He'll be back soon, I promise you. Now, get some rest will you. I'll ask Doctor Lee to come and discuss the medication thing with you. And as a matter of fact, I will discuss your leave from the hospital as well. There's no better place to stay as a place one feels at home."  
On that, the stood up and made some decisions that she shared with no-one, so far.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

He tossed his go-bag on the floor, keys on the kitchen's counter. Then, Callen opened the fridge and took a bottle of beer from it. After a deep sigh, he opened the bottle and took a few sips of it.  
The mission they came back from was a frustrating one without any success. The team was constantly one step behind. The simple fact that Dmitri Vayavich had escaped once more and had come that close to Chris in the hospital had been scary, but every lead had been in vane so far.

He was too tired to go and see Chris in the hospital by now and it disheartened him there had been no opportunity to let her know he was doing okay. From what he heard from Hetty was that she visited her every twice so far.

The slightest sound in his dark living room made him draw his gun.  
"Hetty! I should have known it was you! You're going to get yourself killed if you leave me in the field any longer. You're lucky I'm as sharp as ever," he smiled at the older woman he grew so fond of.

"Just wanted to make sure you're alright and share one of these," as she held up her own bottle of beer.

Suspicious as ever he said "Come on Hetty. It's not the way you check on me after each case. What's in the hat?"

The broad smile on Hetty's face made clear that something was going on that he had no idea of. Callen looked around in his sparsely furnished living room. All seemed intact. His chess board, the books, even that odd plant she had bought him before. The small box on the mantelpiece was left untouched.

Just as he noticed the only change, there were shots, multiple, never-ending shots, coming from his bedroom.  
Seeing Hetty paling he did not know what to expect. Gun ready he ran as fast as he could. There she stood, feebly and pale, but god, he loved the sight of her being there, alive.  
Just a few steps he needed to take away the gun from her hands.  
There lie Dmitri Vayavich. He found her. She won.

He softly guided her away from this room which had been transformed to a real bedroom. Hetty's work, of course, and took her to the living room where he sat her down in his chair. She wanted to cuddle against him, instead she nestled into his big chair which made her feel safe just as well.

Callen looked up at Hetty and said, his voice strained "He was here."

She raised her eyebrows. "He was?"

"He is. I want her out of here," he softly told Hetty.

"Oh Mr. Callen, why?"

"It was a bad idea and I knew it. I'll leave." Despite the soft discussion and despite the shock, Chris had heard what he said. Callen probably never wanted her in his life, it was exactly what she had told Hetty.  
"Give me just a minute, I'll take what's mine. Maybe you can call a taxi and maybe one of you knows a place to stay." She sounded strong but deep down something felt like she was dying and she had to look away as she knew tears were misting her eyes.

"Chris, no! I just—you just need to get down, need your rest. But not in that room, not with his body, not with those memories."  
Callen suddenly realized he did it again. He should learn to communicate just a bit better.

"What I want, Chris Young, is to find you a place where you can be safe. A place for you to heal. A place where you can stay. With me. For now, this place is haunted."

"Mr. Callen?" Hetty caught his attention.

"What?"

He noticed the keys dangling on her index. "Take the Jaguar and my beach house. Now shoo, get there, both of you. Promise me there will be time to smell the roses. I'll take care of all the mess in here."

"How about it, Chris? Will you join me? I'll gladly be the one who chases all your nightmares for the next hundred years, if you will allow me to".

The sudden bright sparkle in her eyes said it all.

* * *

_**Yes, all of you. This is it. A sweet end to this story. Hope you all enjoyed it... Thank you so much for reading!**_


End file.
